Diabetes
A woman with diabetes has a greater risk of having a baby with a birth defect, especially one that affects the brain, heart or spine. This doesn’t mean that diabetic women shouldn’t or can’t get pregnant or that they won’t have a healthy baby. Anyone who is considering getting pregnant and is a diabetic should work to manage their blood sugar levels to improve the chance of delivering a healthy baby.
Obesity
A woman who has been diagnosed as obese has a greater risk of delivering a baby with a birth defect. Obesity is different than being overweight. It is defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher. The most common birth defects for obese mothers include heart defects, cleft palate and NTDs. You can reduce this risk by losing weight before becoming pregnant.
Sexually Transmitted Infections
If you have an STI, you carry a greater risk of your newborn having a health defect. It’s important to treat the STI before becoming pregnant to have a healthy baby. Some STIs pass from the mother to the baby, such as HIV and syphilis. Other STIs may cause intellectual deformities, blindness, hearing loss and deformities of the bones in an infant.
Toxoplasmosis
This is a disease you may not even be aware of having unless it impacts your baby. It comes from a parasite that lives in the dirt. It can be passed to humans if you eat meat this is undercooked or raw vegetables that haven’t been washed. It also comes from handing animal feces, such as cleaning out a cat’s litter box. To prevent this condition, wear gloves when gardening, don’t clean out litter boxes and make sure meat and vegetables are cooked. Common birth defects with this condition include problems with vision and hearing in the infant and intellectual disabilities.
Other Conditions
If a mother has high blood pressure or seizures, she has an increased risk of a baby being born with a birth defect. However, these conditions can be managed with the proper medical care. A doctor can prescribe medication to keep the blood pressure in the normal range. Anti-seizure medication can also protect the mother and the baby. The doctor may want to run tests to determine if the seizures are a symptom of an underlying condition that needs to be treated.
It’s important for a woman to talk to her doctor before becoming pregnant. The doctor may suggest a complete physical exam and other tests to rule out increased risks for birth defects. They can also put the woman on certain regimens that will help them manage or cure their condition and reduce risk for the infant when she becomes pregnant.
