Community Health Charities partners with March of Dimes – working
together for stronger, healthier babies - to raise awareness about
National Birth Defects Prevention Month.
Birth defects are
problems that happen while a baby is growing during pregnancy. These
problems can cause physical or mental disabilities, and in some cases,
death. There are thousands of different birth defects and about 120,000
babies in the United States are born each year with a birth defect. The
most common birth defects are heart defects, cleft lip and cleft palate,
Down syndrome and spina bifida.
While in many cases the cause of a birth defect is unknown, there are
several steps you can take before and during pregnancy to help prevent
birth defects:
