...pregnant and therefore unhealthy for the unborn baby a pregnant woman carries. Many women, despite knowing this well-known fact, have continued smoking during their pregnancy. They would rather feed their addiction than to keep their child healthy and it is immensely wrong. It is unbelievable how women are willing to risk the life of their unborn child just to inhale nicotine. There are so many reasons why smoking during pregnancy is wrong, birth defects, miscarriage and stillbirth, and the risk of the baby developing lung problems. With all of these side effects combined, it seems it would be an obvious conclusion for women to not smoke while pregnant. Smoking is a bad choice to make. Cigarettes are addictive and cause cancer. Smoking while pregnant is not just a bad choice for the mother to make, but also a bad choice for her baby. It is one thing for someone to risk their own heath, and another thing to risk the life of an unborn baby. “A woman who smokes while being pregnant is more than 50% more likely to expose her unborn child to an infection within the womb in comparison to a non-smoker, as the smoker’s Absolute Risk Reduction (ARR) is 1.67 compared to the non-smoker.”( Mund, Louwen, Klingelhoefer, & Gerber, 2013). While it is a well-known fact that smoking during pregnancy is a bad idea, recent studies have shown just how bad it is for the baby. Smoking during pregnancy causes birth defects in the fetus. Many babies, born to mothers who did not smoke during their...
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...Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. It is a type of neural tube defect; these are birth defects that happen during the first month of pregnancy, and it’s usually before a woman knows she is pregnant. Keywords: N/A Birth Defects: Anencephaly Birth defects are a structural or/and a functional of abnormalities that are present at birth that cause physical or mental disability. They’re the leading cause of death for infants and a fetus during the first year of life, and they can be fatal. Anencephaly is an example of a neural tube defect, a condition that results from an error in the first weeks of embryonic development. The term embryonic development refers to the changes that take...
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...many dangers to an unborn child that can follow them the rest of their lives from maternal smoking. Many studies and significant research shows smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of a long list of problems. Still birth is the most common complication, but placental dysfunctional, premature labor and low birth weight are also problems that can harm the fetus. Over 40% of children studied also had some form of heart defect. Exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy has also been linked to SIDS. Birth defects such as cleft palate and cleft lip can be caused from smoking while pregnant as well as your child being diagnosed with asthma. Speech defects as well as behavioral problems such as ADD/ADHD also play a role in maternal smoking. No one would give an infant a cigarette, so why would we while carrying our child smoke? Smoking during pregnancy can harm both the baby and the mother. Most would do anything to protect their child. Yet many women, who feel this way, continue to smoke while pregnant, insisting that the dangers are non-existent. In reality, there are many dangers to an unborn child that can follow them for the rest of their lives, if they survive gestation, and birth. Miscarriages, low birth weight, premature labor, and organ defects are just a few things that can plague the child of a smoking mother. There are many studies, and significant research that shows smoking while pregnant increases the risk of a long list of problems, that may never arise...
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...In a year as many as 3,000 or more newborn babies out of 4 million in the United States are diagnosed with a birth defect called Spina Bifida. The term spina means spine, and bifida means split or open. This birth defect occurs in the first trimester during pregnancy, it involves poor development of the spinal cord. It begins when the two sides of the embryos spine fail to join together, leaving an opening area. The condtion is detected before the baby is born and is treated right away. As I began to read more about Spina Bifida I learned that January is the month of birth defect prevention and immediately I wanted to know what caused the incomplete development of a fetus. Luckily it wasn't hard for me to find something recent, and interesting that caught my attention. The Dallas Weekly newspaper website had an article in which the title said it all, "Parkland prenatal care helps prevent birth defects". According to the providers at Parkland Health & Hospital System, if women who are expecting take certain amounts of folic acid, it can prevent serious birth defects to their baby’s brain and spine, abnormalities known as neural tube defect that occur in the first few weeks of gestation. Since 1992 the U.S Public Health Service has been recommending pregnant women to take 400 micrograms of folic acid per day. Folic acid is a B vitamin that everybody needs for normal growth and development, it is easily known as a prenatal pill but not all women...
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...your prenatal care. Tests and screenings help your health care provider find problems that might affect your pregnancy. Some tests are done for all pregnant women, and some are optional. Most tests and screenings during pregnancy do not pose any risks for you or your baby. You may need additional testing if any routine tests indicate a problem. Tests and screenings done in early pregnancy These are common tests and...
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...for the baby after birth. Tobacco, alcohol, and many other forms of illegal substances can cause medical concerns both during pregnancy and after birth to a baby exposed during pregnancy. Low birth weight, heart defects and premature birth are some of the common effects of substance abuse during pregnancy. The Effects of Substance Abuse on Unborn Babies In today's society, people are talking about babies being born addicted to drugs, and how a mother could harm her unborn child. Substance abuse during pregnancy can have devastating and lasting effects on unborn babies. Drug addiction is a very serious condition that requires more research. We are still learning the effects of substance abuse. Doctors and nurses should not judge these women, but should instead give them the best prenatal care that can be provided. We need to see what harm and side effects substance abuse has on the mother and baby so that we can be able to better understand how to treat the both of them during pregnancy and after birth. Tobacco is sometimes called the lessor of all evils, but “there are over four thousand chemicals” (Johnson, 2012), including nicotine and carbon monoxide. These are the two most dangerous chemicals. Smoking during pregnancy affects the mother and baby’s health before, during, and after the baby is born. The nicotine (the addictive substance in tobacco), carbon monoxide, and numerous other poisons inhaled are carried through the bloodstream directly to the baby. This...
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...Physical: Birth defects or congenital defects are present at birth. They result from heredity, environmental influences, or maternal illness. Such defects range from the very minor, such as a dark spot or birthmark that may appear anywhere on the body, to more serious conditions that may result in marked disfigurement, impaired functioning, or decreased lifespan. Chemical: Birth defects have a variety of causes. What causes birth defects and how to prevent them has been researched for years by the world's top scientists, particularly those involved in genetic testing and engineering. Birth defects, however, and their origins and cures, still seem to elude us. Mechanical : Thalidomide is perhaps the most notorious example of a drug that caused defects. It was brought on to the market without being tested on animal models, and it was specifically marketed for pregnant women. Congenital disorder, also known as congenital disease, birth defect or anomaly,[1] is a condition existing at or before birth regardless of cause. Of these diseases, those characterized by structural deformities are termed "congenital anomalies" and involve defects in a developing fetus. Birth defects vary widely in cause and symptoms. Any substance that causes birth defects is known as a teratogen. Some disorders can be detected before birth through prenatal diagnosis (screening). Biological: The rubella virus, which causes German measles, poses a serious hazard to the developing baby. It can cross...
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... Every year, thousands of infants and new born babies’ lives are taken away; both from them and their parents. Imagine the pain a family encounters after carrying a child for nine months and once the water breaks, being informed that there is a congenital defect with the new born child. The term alone would horrify a mother without being aware of the definition or even cause of the problem the child has encountered. A congenital defect is a birth defect that can be defined as problems that occur while a fetus is developing in the womb. Congenital defects can affect the way the body looks or functions and range from mild to severe. Some defects such as cleft lip or palate can be easily and safely treated, however, defects such as Down syndrome, heart or brain defects, and things along those lines may need life-long treatment to manage. The most severe congenital defects prove fatal and lead to infant death. In 2005, 5,571 infants died as a result of congenital defects. Birth defects are generally grouped into one of three major categories, structural or metabolic, congenital infections, or “other.” Being that this is such a broad break down of categories, it is made evident that not only is it unclear whether a child is born with an abnormality until various tests are done to come to the conclusion that there may be something wrong with a child. Structural or metabolic abnormalities include heart defects and neural defects where some part of the body, internal or external...
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...extremely high. There are multiple different types of technology used to keep a micro-preemie alive and technology is also used to help treat some of the birth defects a micro-preemie may have but the cost for using this technology could also be astronomical. The hospital stays that the micro preemie will have to endure can be very long and the emotional stress can be high. The ethics for treating a patient that young that has no say so whether they want to be alive or not is wrong. Micro preemies have been an issue for several years. “A micro preemie is a baby born weighing less than 1 pound, 12 ounces (800 grams) or before 26 weeks gestation. Because they are born months before their due dates, micro preemies face long NICU stays (Morrissette).” There is no specification to who will give birth to a micro preemie, it does not matter what type of ethnicity, age or what region of the world a person lives in, a female can still give birth to a micro preemie. “Nearly 13% of all babies in the U.S. are preemies, a 20% increase since 1990. A 2006 report by the National Academy of Sciences found that the 550,000 preemies born each year in the U.S. (Million-Dollar Babies).” Just because a female takes every medical precaution during pregnancy does not mean you will last until full term, a person is still at risk for giving birth to a micro preemie. “Premature infants have two ages: their chronological age, based on the day they were born; and their adjusted age, based on their...
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...Prosecuted For Doing Drugs Birth Defects that occur because of street drugs being used during pregnancy is increasing every year. The most common drugs used by pregnant women are cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, which are easy bought and sold around the world. Some cases infants have even passed away or had birth defects such as growth defects, bad lungs, feeding problems, and may have an addiction problem. Tennessee is the only state to have a law prosecuting women who do drugs while pregnant, but noone has really tried to resolve this problem or for the numbers to decrease. Women are abusing infants before they are even born, abuse is a crime , and women should be charged ( Drug use and Pregnancy). During pregnancy at least 1 in every 20 pregnant women does street drugs during their pregnancy. Cocaine can increase the risk of miscarriage or cause placental abruptions, preterm birth and fetal death can occur , or the baby could be born with a smaller head and have growth restrictions. Injecting heroin can cause the baby to have an addiction to heroin, low blood sugar, internal bleeding, and death. Smoking marijuana could make the levels of carbon monoxide ride and increase the chance of low birth weight ( American...
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...Birth Defects Synthesis Essay As excitement and joy flow through expecting parents, troubling thoughts will occur when preparing for an unborn child. With numerous thoughts arising for the family one specific thought, will this child be healthy, will present itself throughout the pregnancy and at birth. Birth defects change the lives of families and unborn children every day. On the website, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone one out of thirty-three children display having a birth defect before and at delivery (“Facts about Birth Defects” par. 1). By knowing the impact birth defects have on society cause a worry for mothers-to-be and families wanting a child of their own. Some families will search for ways...
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...A few short hours after the birth of Mandy Masters in 1961, the doctor whispered to her mother that she didn’t have to keep her. Mandy was one of over 10,000 babies born globally with a disability caused by the drug Thalidomide. Born without arms, she was given a life expectancy of no more than 19 years; now at age 54, Mandy is starting to feel the painful effects of her life-long compensation for her disability (Cawley, 2013). Thalidomide was originally produced by the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal, as an anticonvulsant. Early tests showed that the drug was inadequate for this purpose but had sedative properties. The drug was later used as a sleeping pill and prescribed to pregnant women to treat morning sickness. When the damage...
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...Birth defects, also known as congenital disorders, are conditions that exist before or at birth. 20% of these defects originate from heredity, but most of these disorders are caused by the poor life choices expecting mothers make. There are things moms may not consider that could put an infant in danger of congenital disorders. Some everyday activities contain underlying risks that can be detrimental over time. With that being said, most birth defects happen because of the carelessness of pregnant mothers by means of smoking, drinking, not eating correctly, and not taking care of themselves in various ways. Cigarettes There are many commercials on TV showing the negative effects cigarettes have on unborn babies. All cigarettes contain toxins,...
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...deaf. Now she has to make the life altering decision of whether to keep the baby or not. What should she do? I think the woman should go through with the pregnancy and have the baby. In my mind abortion is wrong. Abortion is a very controversial topic. Some people believe it should be the woman’s choice while others believe abortion is killing your child. Some people even say that the fetus is not a human being until it is born. In my opinion I think that abortion is killing your unborn child. I believe that after the moment of conception the fetus is a human being. After only three weeks the baby’s heart begins to beat. During the fourth week the brain begins to develop. Towards the end of the eighth week the baby develops its sense of smell. During the second trimester the baby begins to react to music and loud noises. (Make way for baby/ fetal development). These facts make me believe that an unborn child is a human being and every human deserves the right to live. Take this scenario for example: A pregnant woman is murdered by a man and he goes to jail. The man is then charged with a double homicide for killing a woman and her unborn child. Yet when a woman decides to have an abortion it isn’t considered killing your child, does something seem wrong here? Besides the woman having to decide if she thinks abortion is right or wrong, she also has to think if her baby will be born with birth defects caused by her syphilis. Women can be treated for...
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...information about the side effects, so people used it freely. In 1958, the drug was licensed to other countries, so it was becoming a popular drug in solving morning sickness. By 1961, researchers found a correlation between thalidomide and birth defects in children. Then in 1964, an israeli Professor was interested in the positive side effects of thalidomide. They eventually found that thalidomide has positive effects in treating other diseases, and that when the FDA approved it. Around the same time, scientists discovered the immunomodulatory properties when testing thalidomide with leprosy patients. In 2006, it was discovered that thalidomide is useful in treating Multiple Myeloma. In the past, Thalidomide was used for nausea in pregnant woman, but over time scientists...
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