What are disabilities? This is inability to do some basics things perceive the baby ought to be doing. E.g crawling, rolling on bed, sitting, standing, talking etc.
Due to inabilities of these special people, some refer to them as aliens, evil children and all sorts of inhumane names which does not befit any human. These set of people are humans too, just that they are challenged with BIRTH DEFECTS WHICH CAUSES DISABILITIES.
What then is BIRTH DEFECTS?
Disabilities in newborns is medically refer as birth defects which may either happen before birth or during the labour period. Some disabilities happens even after birth.
A birth defect is a significant abnormality of appearance, structure, or function that is present at birth. Birth defects are common. Two percent to 3% of live-born infants show one or more significant defects at birth. This number increases to approximately 5% by 1 year of age due to the discovery of defects that were not obvious at birth.
A birth defect can be visibly obvious, an internal defect, or a chemical imbalance within the body.
CAUSES OF BIRTH DEFECTS?
Just as birth defects are numerous so the the causes. I will mention few herein such as Cerebral palsy, asphixia,ataxia,spina bifida, Down syndrome,HIE,hydrocephallous,macrocephally to mention few.
Birth defects can be caused by…
1) Genetic factors : About 20% of birth defects are caused by genetic or hereditary factors. Every human body cell contains 46 chromosomes, and each chromosome contains thousands of genes. Each gene contains a blueprint that controls development or function of a particular body part. People who have either too many or too few chromosomes will therefore receive a scrambled message regarding body development and function.
Down syndrome is an example of a condition caused by too many chromosomes. Because of an accident during cell division, individuals with Down syndrome have an extra copy of a particular chromosome. This extra chromosome causes a typical group of birth defects to occur repeatedly in affected persons. Individuals with Down syndrome have mental retardation, muscle weakness, downward slant of the eyes, low-set and malformed ears, an abnormal crease in the palm of the hand, and birth defects of the heart and intestines.
2)Environmental injuries : About 10% of birth defects are caused by environmental factors such as infection, radiation, and drugs. These environmental factors can cause death, severe birth defects, or might have no effect at all on the developing baby depending on when during pregnancy the exposure occurs.
The developing baby goes through two major stages of development after conception. The first, or embryo stage, occurs during the first 10 weeks after conception. Most of the major body systems and organs form during this time. The second, or fetal stage, is the remainder of the pregnancy. This fetal period is a time of growth of the organs and of the fetus in general. The developing baby is most vulnerable to injury during the embryo stage when organs are developing. Indeed, infections, radiation, and drugs cause most of their damage when exposure occurs 2 to 10 weeks after conception.
Rubella, or German measles, is an example of an infection that causes birth defects if a woman has the infection during early pregnancy. The type of birth defect that results depends on the stage of development when the infection occurs. Rubella causes cataracts if infection occurs during the 6th week of pregnancy, deafness if the infection occurs during the 9th week, and heart defects if the infection occurs between the fifth and 10th week of pregnancy.
3) Drug and alcohol exposure during pregnancy : Alcohol is the most commonly used drug that causes birth defects. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a term used to describe the typical birth defects (learning disabilities, mental retardation, irritability, hyperactivity, poor coordination, and abnormalities of facial features) caused by maternal alcohol use. This early vulnerability of the developing baby has serious consequences. A woman might not be aware that she is several weeks pregnant and might unknowingly expose her unborn child to the effects of medicines, X-rays, recreational drugs, or alcohol during this most vulnerable period.
Another kind of environmental factor that causes birth defects is uterine constraint. The human fetus grows in its mother’s uterus and is surrounded by amniotic fluid (similar to being suspended in a bag of water) that cushions it from excessive pressure. If the sack of fibers that holds the fluid breaks, bands of fibers from the torn sack can press on the fetus and cause amniotic band syndrome (amputation of an arm or leg). An inadequate amount of amniotic fluid can cause excessive pressure on the entire baby, causing pulmonary hypoplasia (lack of development of the lungs).
4)Prolonged labour : Kids threatening damages have been done to newborns simply because their parents refused Ceasarean Section to natural birth even at the expense of them knowing the mother’s pelvic is small & narrow to support natural birth. Once the neonates get delayed and tired it does many damages to their brains which affect their growth.
Meanwhile, some birth defects, however, are without detectable causes.
To be continued…
Reference: My Cleveland Clinic.
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