Article: Birth Defects

Birth Defects


About 3 percent of babies born alive have serious birth defects. Some defects are genetic; others may result from damage to a growing fetus caused by infection, chemicals (including fertilizers, alcohol, or drugs), diet, X rays, or a mixture of these. They can also be caused by direct damage, as in a failed abortion. Interest in damaged children, who were once known as "monsters," goes back at least to ancient Egypt. The study of birth defects is now known as teratology and the damaging agents as teratogens.

For many centuries birth defects were seen as warnings or divine omens and children with birth defects were often confused with mythological beings. It was an ...

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