National Birth Defects Prevention Study Examines Potential Risk Factors
Birth defects can cause lifelong problems with health, growth and learning. We want to find ways to prevent birth defects. To do that, we must know what causes them. Research gives us important clues about the factors that might raise or lower the risk of having a baby with a birth defect.
One in every 33 babies in the United States is born with a birth defect. Birth defects are one of the leading causes of death in the first year of life and can affect how a child’s body looks, works, or both. While the causes of some birth defects are known, we do not know what causes most of them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to find answers through the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). This study looks at risk factors and potential causes of birth defects. Understanding the potential causes of birth defects can lead to recommendations, policy planning, and services to help prevent them. The study is a key first step towards helping bring us to a day when fewer babies are born with birth defects
What is the National Birth Defects Prevention Study?
NBDPS is the largest US study looking at potential risk factors and causes of birth defects. NBDPS studies birth defects that affect the structure of various parts of the body, such as the heart, spine, brain, face, stomach and intestines. For example, some commonly known birth defects such as cleft lip, spina bifida, and heart defects are included in the study.
How Does the Study Work?
Researchers talk to women who have had pregnancies or babies affected by birth defects, as well as mothers of babies with no birth defects, about their pregnancy experience and health. Cheek cell samples are also collected from families to examine the role that genes play in the health of a baby, especially those that interact with the environment.
What States Are Involved and Why Include More than One Site in the Study?
CDC funds the study and collects data along with researchers in other sites across the country. Participating sites include: Arkansas, California, Georgia (CDC), Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Utah. Sites in Iowa, New York, Texas, and New Jersey have also been part of the study.
Because many types of birth defects occur at such low rates, it is difficult to conduct studies that include enough children with specific birth defects. NBDPS gives us a unique opportunity to create a study group large enough to determine what environmental, genetic and behavioral factors cause or contribute to specific birth defects.
How Are Study Participants Selected?
Because birth defects are a serious public health concern, state law allows each study site to collect information on babies affected by a birth defect. This is how most women are identified in the study. Women whose babies do not have birth defects are chosen randomly from a group of women who gave birth in the same year from state birth records. These families are contacted by phone to find out if they want to participate in the study.
What Will Researchers Do with the Results?
Results from the study will teach us more about the potential factors that might raise or lower the risk of having a baby with birth defects. When we know the causes of birth defects, we can develop public health policies and raise awareness about things parents and potential parents can do to prevent them.
Why Is This Study So Important?
Understanding the causes of birth defects can help us prevent them. The size and scope of this study will provide important clues to help us in our journey to ensure every child is born with the best health possible.
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