Pregnancy is an exciting time filled with hopeful anticipation, and most pregnancies are uneventful and result in healthy babies. Pregnancy, however, is not entirely without risk, leading some expectant parents to worry about birth defects and whether they’ll give birth to a healthy baby.
Many birth defects are minor and easily treated. But about one in every 33 babies is born with a major birth defect, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Major birth defects may have a serious impact on development, functional ability and overall health. Throughout January, which is Birth Defects Prevention Month, BeSmartBeWell.com highlights pregnancy risks and preventable birth defects. At BeSmartBeWell.com medical experts, and real-life expectant moms, like Sharon, share information to help lower the risk for birth defects.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/birthdefects/50829/
Mark Saxton, MD, pediatric surgeon at Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wis., is performing a minimally invasive surgery to correct pectus excavatum (sunken chest) in adults.
“Sunken chest is a birth defect characterized by a sunken sternum or breastbone,” explains Dr. Saxton. “The deformity tends to worsen until the patient is full grown and will not improve with age. It is caused by extreme growth of cartilage that connects each rib to the sternum. This causes the sternum to buckle in towards the spine.”
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/gundluth/43811/
Performing delicate surgery in the womb, months before birth, can substantially improve outcomes for children with a common, disabling birth defect of the spine. Experts at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) co-led a new landmark study showing that fetal surgery for spina bifida greatly reduces the need to divert fluid from the brain, improves mobility and improves the chances that a child will be able to walk independently.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/chop/48124/
Little Colby Boudreaux is moving his legs and feet. While this is something most parents take for granted, for Colby it’s remarkable. He underwent a life-changing surgery at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans to correct the myelomeningocele birth defect, the most serious form of spina bifida… 12 weeks before he was born. During a groundbreaking surgery, Ochsner Medical Center’s fetal surgery team of 18 physicians and nurses operated on the 23-week-old fetus while still in his mother’s uterus, a procedure that fewer than 10 hospitals in the United States are able to perform.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/59661-ochsner-medical-center-first-in-utero-surgery-corrects-mmc-birth-defect
