Know about Congenital Heart Disease | Fusion - WeRIndia

Congenital Heart Disease or simply CHD is heart disease present right at birth of a newborn. This disease is prevalent in about 0.5%-0.8% of the live births (8/1000). After prematurity, this is the most major cause of death for infants in the first year of life.

With the advanced technology available today, it is possible to detect CHD in the mother’s womb when the fetus is barely 22 weeks old. There are two kinds of CHD: the simple and the complex. The chances of CHD increase greatly when the mother has bad or dangerous habits.

There are many causes for CHD or rather factors that can increase the chances of CHD. They include obesity and diabetes mellitus, viral fever, especially Rubella syndrome (German measles). If the mother takes harmful medicines for sleeping, anxiety, bronchial asthma, fits (convulsions), depression, or narcotics like cocaine and heroin then it can also cause CHD.

During the first 3 months of pregnancy, exposure to X-rays can also be quite dangerous. Consumption of alcohol and tobacco in any form by the mother can also cause CHD.

Using genetic inheritance Native drugs for abortion which end up not aborting the fetus have a great chance of causing CHD and other birth defects.

It is also possible of the newborn to have CHD if the mother has heart disease or if the previous child has heart disease.

Furthermore, there are cases where even late pregnancy can cause a higher incidence of Down’s syndrome. In 50% of victims, Down syndrome can cause complex atrioventricular (AV) canal defect in the heart apart from mental retardation and physical abnormalities.

Mothers can do their best to avoid CHD. There are certain things a pregnant woman must not do. This includes consumption of alcohol or smoking. Avoid taking any medicine especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Supplements of folic acid even before conceiving and during pregnancy can prevent CHD.

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