Before pregnancy prevention check birth defects

In China, with the improvement of their health and reproductive health care, the infant mortality rate declined, and birth defects caused by the increasing proportion of fetal and infant deaths. Birth defects had become the major cause of infant deaths in China. Birth defects can not only cause of neonatal death, even to survive, most of the newborn will remain handicapped, seriously affect the quality of life in the future, while the economic burden to the family and mental suffering cannot be calculated. In recently held the second International Conference on birth defects and disabilities in developing countries on, the Chinese Government designated September 12 as \"China birth defects prevention day\".

Birth defects as infants death Chief criminal

21st century, with the development of medical, antenatal and perinatal health care in improving maternal and child health Division mitoji scourge cooked food: home? in both developed and developing China?? Perinatal mortality rate, infant mortality, maternal mortality has dropped sharply. However, the perinatal mortality caused by birth defects and infant mortality is on the rise. Peking University Institute of reproductive health in the province of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hebei and Shanxi 4 monitoring found that birth defects are the main reasons for resulting in still births, stillbirths.

Refers to the birth of birth defect exists when the various structures, intellectual or abnormal metabolism of the body. About 5 million birth defects in babies born each year in the world, 85% is in developing countries. High incidence of birth defects in China is one of the country. According to statistics, about 800,000 to 1.2 million per year in China birth defects in infants, 4% per cent of total births, including about 220,000 cases of congenital heart disease, 100,000 cases of neural tube defects, 50,000 cases of cleft lip and palate and 30,000 cases of Down\'s Syndrom.

Causes of birth defects in newborns is complex, and formation of congenital malformations in the part of the fetus in mother, this is mainly because the pregnancy time wrong, environmental impact, the lack of certain vaccinations cause nutritional or not accordingly. No rupture of brain, spine, and encephalocele, birth defects such as congenital heart disease is such causes. Second, because the fetus suffering from genetic diseases, such as blood disease, dementia, so that after the birth of some can survive, but relatively low quality of life.

Birth defects prevention should start from before pregnancy

On the clinical, antenatal screening to detect fetal birth defect, doctors will recommend pregnant women induction. However, induction, after all, to bear a great deal of pain, there was a problem with their prenatal screening, rather than fully before pregnancy counselling and testing before they happen. The past, people pay more attention to check before marriage and prenatal screening, and overlook before pregnancy counselling and testing. In fact, until the check pregnancy before it is too late. According to the study shows that timing of antenatal and perinatal health and embryo on teratogenic factors there is a time difference between the sensitive period, does not match between the two. Strength of zhouzhi III the eighth week of embryonic cells differentiation, highly sensitive to most of the risk factors, and are often the first pregnant women found that pregnancy to hospitals antenatal care visits after this period. At this point, birth defects and other adverse birth outcomes may have been formed and exist. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of birth defects, the critical time of birth defects prevention begins before pregnancy.

The consequences of birth defects and disabilities in quite serious and irreversible, so prevention should be the key to the response to the problems of birth defects. Women in pregnant Qian and during pregnancy active elimination and avoid contact various dangerous factors, for fetal of growth development and meet new life provides good of within external environment, these measures including: women pregnant Qian taking folic acid added agent or strengthening folic acid food, and ensure women pregnant Qian vaccination rubella vaccine, and ensure women pregnant Qian check and treatment reproductive road infection and some serious chronic disease, and prohibited kin married, and women during pregnancy does not smoking or drinking, and avoid women during pregnancy contact pesticide or toxic harmful material and for newborn genetic metabolism disease early sieve check,. Experts have pointed out, if these birth defects and disabilities in interventions to implement, it is possible to move the existing birth defects and disabilities reduce more than half.

Addition of folic acid: an effective measure

Since in the 1980 of the 20th century, China\'s scientists and preventive health care workers carried out a series of cause of birth defect monitoring, research and population interventions. Chinese and American scientists after a long-term, large-scale collaborative research, through the follow-up observation of the urban and rural areas in China on a large number of women of childbearing age, found from early pregnancy pregnant before taking small doses of folic acid daily simple additive, high incidence of birth defects in the North area can prevent neural tube defects 85%, low areas in the South also could prevent neural tube defects 40%.

Chair, Director of the Institute for the study of reproductive health, Peking University Professor Li Zhu after years of group intervention study confirmed that women generally low folate levels in simply taking folic acid additive--neural tube defects can not only be effective in preventing birth defects, also reduces newborns per cent of major surface deformity, 15% and 35% of congenital cleft lip and palate incidence of heart disease, thereby reducing the 20% of neonatal mortality.