Yesterday on my social media outlets I stated: “It is inspiring to me that 85.3% of birth defects are preventable . What is alarming about this same statistic is for the first time ever we had World Birth Defects Day this year (2015). Why is this alarming to me? Because that means people are still unaware, without resources, without support, and/or still lost in the conflicting information given. This also tells me that we are missing something that is right in front of us and yet we are not looking at it head on because all the information is there.”
I am a bit stunned by this concept of needing to grow the awareness of birth defects on a global level because to me this means there is a rise in birth defects and it also means that even though we have gone leaps and bounds in our knowledge of fetal development, health, and prevention we are still at a loss. Humanity is practically standing there; hand on our hip and the other scratching the tops of our heads wondering what is going on.
There are many theories and ideas about why there is an increase worldwide and how we can work towards decreasing the rate. Here are a few of mine:
- The environment
- Our food, water, and air quality has gone down and it is something we need to work on if we want this planet and all the lives on it to survive.
- Much of the information given is fear based
- It makes the risks even scarier and overwhelming that it becomes easier to do what you think is best and stay positively wondering because it seems as though no matter what, you are not doing enough.
- Not meeting people where they are
- Many times community organizations attempt to talk to men and women starting from a young age and even as we are older about reproductive health. We talk about pregnancy as if it is going to happen tomorrow when they are thinking it is going to happen in 5-10-20 years or never. They tune out if it is not relevant to them at that time so we need to meet them where they are and make it relevant for THEM, not relevant for us and our goals.
- Many people are not aware that 85.3% of birth defects are preventable and many think it will never happen to them.
- I am all about positive thinking but I also believe information is power. The more we know the more we can do something about the information at hand. Seeing this stat lights me up because that means there are so many lives we can change before they are even born, that there can actually be fewer risks and cases of birth defects…as long as we can start turning information into transformation.
- I also think Genetic tests should be performed as soon as possible in someone’s life and nutrition panels should be part of preventive exams.
- This will help people ensure that they know what they could be at risk for and with the nutrition panel they can make sure they are giving their body what it needs to stay healthy and decrease their chances of getting life altering conditions triggered by deficiency (you’d be surprised by this number too).
- Nutrition panels early on also help parents-to-be know they are not nutrient deficient and therefore can provide all the building blocks to their baby as they develop. This would also be helpful for expecting moms throughout their pregnancy.
- People are so stressed out and have a hard time slowing down
- There is always something else that has to be done, we are so used to multi-tasking we have no idea how to focus on one thing at a time. Our stress hormones are always flowing through our body as if this is normal. Our biology was not built to have stress hormones on an even flow all day long. Prior to pregnancy and during development this has major influences on the little body that is being built inside.
This list is not all inclusive list of what I think are the causes and ways to decrease the rates, but it is where I think we can start to make small changes to make a large impact towards decreasing the risks of birth defects worldwide. The information and knowledge is out there. We need to be able to turn information into transformation. What we as a society have been doing is not making that difference, so in my humble opinion it is time to step back for a second and see what we need to change in our approach.
What are some of your thoughts, ideas, or theories about why there is an increase in birth defects and how we as a society can decrease the amount of them worldwide? Share your answers on Facebook Twitter or Instagram