Every woman when pregnant has a 3-5% chance of having a baby born with a birth defect, and these chances increase when the developing fetus/ embryos are exposed to teratogens, whether it’s intentional or unintentional (Bethesda (MD), 2006). Teratogens can cause severe birth defects, malformations, or terminate the pregnancy altogether (Jancárková, & Gregor, 2000). The placenta is known as an effective barrier from any detrimental pathogen that can potentially hurt the fetus. The timing of exposure of any teratogen is critical to the impact of prenatal development (Bethesda (MD), 2006). The most vulnerable time of the fetus for severe damage is during early pregnancy when all the major organ and central nervous system (CNS) are developing. Miscarriages have an important role in keeping a pregnancy from evolving when there is something serious going on with the developing fetus/embryo. Miscarriages are more common than we think and are the most familiar type of pregnancy loss (Bethesda (MD), 2006).
Additionally, the reason miscarriages are under recorded at times is because they occur before the woman even knows she is pregnant, so they may be confused as a late period. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), 10-25% of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage. What is referred to as a “chemical pregnancy” also falls in this category, which accounts for 50-75% of all miscarriages. Moreover, chemical pregnancies are given this term because they are pregnancies that end very soon after a positive test result. Imagine taking a pregnancy test one day and having a faint positive result and testing again a few days later and getting a negative result. This is an extremely early misc...
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Chambers, C. D., Polifka, J. E., & Friedman, J. M. (2008). Drug safety in pregnant women and their babies: ignorance not bliss. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 83(1), 181-183.
Ford-Jones, E. L., & Kellner, J. D. (1995). " CHEAP TORCHES": An acronym for congenital and perinatal infections. The Pediatric infectious disease journal, 14(7), 638-639.
Huizink, A. C., Robles de Medina, P. G., Mulder, E. J., Visser, G. H., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2003). Stress during pregnancy is associated with developmental outcome in infancy. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44(6), 810-818.
Jancárková, N., & Gregor, V. (2000). [Teratogens during pregnancy]. Ceska gynekologie/Ceska lekarska spolecnost J. Ev. Purkyne, 65(3), 188-194.
Kuczkowski, K. M. (2009). Caffeine in pregnancy. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 280(5), 695-698.
The first days and weeks after conception are critical for the baby. The health during the entire fetal period affects the brain, and behavioral teratogens affect the fetus at any time. Some teratogens that cause preterm birth or low birthweight are harmful in the second half of pregnancy. A study found that even though smoking cigarettes during prenatal development can harm the fetus, mothers who quit smokers early in pregnancy had no higher risks of birth complications than did women who never smoked. Another study found that binge drinking in the last trimester of pregnancy was more harmful to the brain than during any other period during pregnancy. It is recommended that women avoid drugs, have a diet of extra folic acid and iron, update their immunizations and gain or lose weight before
There are many factors that are integrated into the successful development of a child from Prenatal growth into toddlerhood. Teratogens (outside factors) have a great impact on the babies’ inutero development. Some outside factors like second-hand smoke, smog, or fumes from cleaning chemicals can cause negative effects on the child inside the womb. A few major affects from teratogens could result in low birth weight, head circumference, slow physical growth as well as an effect on mental, behavioral and motor skills (Berk, 2003). The environment around the mother provides many of these outside factors affecting the baby’s growth. But the main link to teratogens during the gestation period is most likely the mother. Daniel S. Messinger and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 2.8% of pregnant women admitted to using illicit drugs during their pregnancy (1996). Through illicit drug use, tobacco use and alcohol use, the mother disrupts her baby’s growth with possibly permanent damage.
Young mother Molly Jones Gray always wished of holding soft delicate babies in her hands, but never expected to have trouble trying to get pregnant. She had many miscarriages, and learned that because of household products she had could not become pregnant. She became part of a study to find out if there were any chemicals in her body that she did not know of. According to the study, Molly had higher levels of mercury, in contrast to the other women in the study. She also learned that the household cleaners she was currently using affected not only her, but also the fetus inside her. Health experts today are trying to examine the health risks involved with cosmetics, cleaning products, and cans (Toxic).
Childbirth is nothing short of a miracle. The placenta—the organ connecting a developing fetus to the uterine wall and allowing for waste elimination, nutrient uptake and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply—filters most harmful substances that threaten an embryo, though some may still pass on to the fetus. These harmful substances, called “teratogens,” range from environmental chemicals to the passing of maternal diseases, and can negatively impact the normal developmental cycle of a fetus. The title “teratogen,” however, effectually refers to any substance or chemical exposure with the potential to cause birth defects in prenatal development. Exposure to teratogens can result in a broad spectrum of physiological and psychological issues in later life, including malformations of the body. (Malformations resulting from exposure to one of the most common teratogens—alcohol—can be observed notoriously in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or FAS, where patterns of mental and physical defects develop in association with high levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.) Though the toxicity of these teratogens is particularly damaging during the fourth through tenth weeks of gestation, teratogens can harm throughout the span of development in the womb.
Imagine being in a family that is expecting their first child. Articles in the newspaper are showing how the chances of miscarriages are increasing. As soon as anxiety starts to take over, a flip of a page in the newspaper changes everything. An article about a new drug called Diethylstilbestrol seems to be on the next page. Diethylstilbestrol, also known as DES, is a medicine that helps prevent women from having pregnancy complications including miscarriages. “This is amazing!” one may say, but do they really know the consequences of taking this new medication? Diethylstilbestrol was a huge turning point for most pregnant women in the early twentieth century; however, it had many underlying negative consequences that would later affect the mother and child with the word no one ever wants to hear; cancer.
Talge, N. M., Neal, C., & Glover, V. (2007). Antenatal maternal stress and long-term effects on child neurodevelopment: how and why?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(3/4), 245-261.
In order to fully understand how certain drugs’ cause birth defects it is important to understand how environmental factors affect a developing fetus. When a baby is in the fetal period of development a placenta surrounds the fetus, providing nourishment and also protecting the fetus from harmful substances. This permeable barrier allows for some substances to enter based on a molecule's size, charge and solubility, it is also important to understand that a normal dose of medication for an adult does not affect a fetus in a similar way. Gideon Koren shares many factors that illustrate how and why a drug would affect a fetus more powerfully “…Second, the fetus’s detoxification and immune systems are still immature, unable to clear drugs and other chemicals from its system as effectively as the body of an adult. And third, the fetus is developing so rapidly that even a small disruption induced by a chemical can have far-reaching effects.” These factors help prescribers understand how medications can affect a
Prenatal brain development is not usually the first topic on a pregnant woman’s mind, if it crosses her mind at all! Many women do not know what adverse effects certain circumstances can have on a child’s development. The most obvious deterrent of brain development would be a physical injury to the child. If any portion of the child’s brain is damaged during pregnancy, the effects will almost certainly be long term. Most pregnant women successfully take the necessary steps to avoid physically damaging the child’s brain. Perhaps even scarier is the thought that continuous exposure to stress can also permanently damage the brain development of a child that has yet to be born. The US National Library of Medicine states that in humans and animals, prolonged exposure to stress that can be controlled by the mother may result in abnormal behavioral, cognitive, and psychosocial outcomes. It is important for mothers to remember that they are no longer taking care of only themselves. Though unborn, there is a lot of damage that can be ...
Pregnant women have to be careful while pregnant. They have to watch out for various speed bumps. There are tons of toxins that can hurt the baby in the womb. The mother is responsible for most of these, after all she is the one who is carrying the baby. Many of these factors can result in death. It is really sad that it has to end that way some of the time. The worst toxins for a baby to encounter while in the mother’s uterus are different types of drugs and alcohol. Those two things can could serious problems for the infant once it gets into their system. They enter into the baby’s bloodstream from the mother, and cause problems from there on out.
The affects teratogens can have on the developing fetus can vary greatly. Research provided from the University of Iowa’s on teratogens explains some of the possible outcome to exposure to certain teratogens. Listed birth defects resulting from exposure to teratogens, range from prenatal death, to physical and mental abnormalities.
17. American College of Medical Genetics Clinical Practice Committee. Statement on multiple marker screening in pregnant women. American College of Medical Genetics College Newsletter, January 1996;6.
It became known as the “wonder drug” that would stop morning sickness without any risk. It was only found to be extremely dangerous in 1961 when McBride began to notice that the severe birth defects that had appeared in the babies of his patients was linked to the taking of Thalidomide. It was then found that Thalidomide is a teratogen, or a factor that causes malformations of an embryo. “Before 1961, there was very little evidence for drug-induced malformations in humans. But in that year, Lenz and McBride independently accumulated evidence that a mild sedative, thalidomide, caused an enormous increase in a previously rare syndrome of congenital anomalies. Nowack documented the period of susceptibility during which thalidomide caused these abnormalities. The drug was found to be teratogenic only during days 34-50 after the last menstruation” (Gilbert, 2013, ch. 21). It was found that Thalidomide could cross the placental wall and into the fetus and cause malformations of the fetus. Although it is still unclear exactly how Thalidomide acts as a mutagen so that the babies are born disabled, and there are new theories being developed to this day of how Thalidomide works exactly to cause these malformations, it is obvious to scientists that it penetrated the placental wall and somehow entered thefetus. Thalidomide produced the most devastating effects when taken in the first trimester of pregnancy. The “Thalidomide babies” that survived were born with severe defects including blindness, deafness, cleft palate, and the most common deformity of a Thalidomide baby, phocomelia, which is malformation of the limbs, so that all four limbs are very short and flipper-like. The number of deformed babies born from mothers who took Thalidomide varies from source to source, however 10-20 thousand would be an accurate number. The Thalidomide disaster was most definitely a global issue because Thalidomide
The first trimester of pregnancy is the most sensitive trimester for a developing fetus. There are a few different ways that mothers and fetuses can be exposed during this sensitive time. They can be exposed accidentally, knowledgably, or with no knowledge of the pregnancy. An example of an accidental exposure is a radiation accident, like Chernobyl. There was no way to record the actual dosage of radiation that each child received in utero, or the amount of women who had spontaneous abortions after being exposed to the accidental radiation. It has been shown that those babies “exposed during the most sensitive period of pregnancy performed less well [on verbal IQ tests] than those who were exposed after week 16 of pregnancy” (Heiervang 213). There appear to be more significant birth defects and abnormalities in fetuses who were exposed prior to the 16 week gestational mark.
A teratogen is any agent that causes abnormality in a developing embryo. Teratogens are agents that cross the placental wall and cause physical abnormalities, along with cognitive and behavioral defects. Usually, these malformations show up anywhere from the third to eighth week of pregnancy, or the first trimester, which is when major organ systems are developing. Some types of teratogens consist of certain medications, chemicals, and infections or other diseases in the mother (Things to Avoid During Pregnancy: Teratogens, 2016).