Women have been advised to be cautious of the foods they consume during their fertile period, as well as to visit the hospital frequently to avoid congenital abnormalities and ailments caused by problems during the fetus’s development prior to birth.
Speaking on Gye Nyame FM’s programme christened “You and Your Health” hosted by Kwaku Mensah Abrampa, Madam Beatrice Bonna Tamea, a midwife of the Sampa Government Hospital, indicated that birth defects, congenital disorders, or congenital malformations conditions develop prenatally and may be identified before or at birth, or later in life, hence the need for parents, especially women, to eat nutritious foods to prevent it.
Madam Anna Bosomtwe, a pediatric nurse at the Sampa Government Hospital, highlighted some congenital abnormalities related conditions, which include cleft palate or cleft lip, a birth defect in which a baby’s roof of the mouth and upper lip don’t form completely and have an opening in it; omphalocele, a birth defect of the abdominal wall; macrocephaly, a birth defect in which a baby’s head is larger than it should be; esophageal atresia, a birth defect in which a baby’s esophagus does not develop properly; gastroschisis; and many other abnormalities that affect the unborn baby as a result of a deficiency in food nutrients and folic acid for the body to grow as expected.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), congenital diseases, also known as birth defects, are structural or functional anomalies (for example, metabolic disorders) that occur during intrauterine life and can be identified prenatally, at birth, or sometimes only be detected later in infancy, such as hearing defects.
The WHO also reveals that an estimated 240,000 newborns die worldwide within 28 days of birth every year due to birth defects. Birth defects cause a further 170,000 deaths of children between the ages of 1 month and 5 years.
