MOBILE – Each year in this country, about 150,000
babies (or one in every 33) are born with a birth defect.
Despite the amazing advances of the Human Genome Project,
and its promising prospects for future genetics research,
birth defects are still the leading cause of infant
mortality and childhood disability. In Alabama, nearly 2,000
babies are born with birth defects each year. The most
common category of birth defect is “multiple congenital
anomalies.”
“Many birth defects are preventable,” said Dr. Wladimir
Wertelecki, director of the Alabama Birth Defects
Surveillance and Prevention Program at the University of
South Alabama. “There are steps that women can take to
decrease their chance of having a baby with a birth defect,”
said Wertelecki, who is also professor and chair of medical
genetics at USA.
Every day, all women of childbearing age should take a
multivitamin that contains 400 micrograms (400 mcg or 0.4
mg) of folic acid. Folic acid consumption reduces the risk
of having a baby with spina bifida, and possibly other birth
defects including cleft lip or palate, and heart defects.
At the Medical Genetics/Birth Defects Clinic at USA,
intensive diagnostic studies have led to the description of
several unique congenital disorders. “This underscores that
medical geneticists, while delivering clinical care, also
contribute in expanding scientific knowledge,” Wertelecki
said.
January has been designated a Birth Defects Prevention Month
to highlight the public health importance of birth defects.
Public health campaigns to decrease high-risk behaviors and
late (or no) prenatal care are making progress. However,
there is more work to be done to support these important
prevention messages, as well as treatment and care options
including early intervention services for children and
families affected by birth defects.
The Alabama Birth Defects Surveillance and Prevention
Program arose in Mobile when USA’s Wertelecki and Mr.
Charles Wood secured financing for a pilot program from the
Alabama Developmental Disabilities Council.
Currently, the program conducts surveillance in 22 Alabama
counties and is sustained by the Alabama Department of
Public Health, the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation
Services, the Alabama Department of Mental Health/Mental
Retardation, and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. One goal of the program is to enhance prevention
programs and improve access for children with birth defects
to comprehensive, community-based, family centered care.
Surveillance registered nurses visit birthing facilities and
specialty clinics to conduct surveillance activities and
serve as a resource to communities by providing information
to health professionals, patients and their families, and
link appropriate families to services through their medical
home.
The program is also conducting a statewide Spina Bifida
(neural tube defect or NTD) Recurrence Prevention Campaign
with the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama
Chapter of the March of Dimes, and the physician of record
to provide folic acid to every woman who has had a pregnancy
affected by a NTD.
For more information about birth defects prevention, contact
Barbie Oliver, CRNP, at (251) 460-7500, 1-800-624-1865,
boliver@usouthal.edu or visit
www.usouthal.edu/genetics.For
information on Alabama’s Early Intervention System (AEIS),
call 1-800-543-3098
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