The National and environmental Health Public Tracking network is a
website where you can explore and look deeper into diseases or health issues
that interest you. I take a special interest in baby birth defects and
pregnancy.
Most birth defects occur in the first three months of the pregnancy but
some can occur in the last 6 month or any time after the baby is born. The
cause of many birth defects is unclear. According to the CDC, Doctors and
public health scientists know how some happen. “Birth defects are common,
costly, and critical conditions that affect 1 in every 33 babies born in the
United States each year.” In the United States every 4 ½ minutes a baby is born
with a birth defect. Mainly birth defects are spotted within the first year of
the baby’s life but some can be detected before or during birth. The severity
of birth defects varies but can affect any part(s) of the body; head, brain,
hand, feet, heart, etc. Sadly, most birth defects we still don’t know the cause
of. Scientists do know what can lead to birth defects; our genes, behaviors,
and things in the environment. Some behaviors are obvious such as not smoking,
drinking taking drugs while pregnant, being older than 34, being obese or
having diabetes during pregnancy, and taking medications. I researched the
above information from the CDC website.
Pictured below is a common birth defect called cleft lip. A cleft lip
happens if the tissue that makes up the lip does not join completely before
birth. This results in an opening in the upper lip. The opening in the lip can
be a small slit or it can be a large opening that goes through the lip into the
nose. The picture below is from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National
Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. 
