Why Women Have Malformed, Deformed Babies

Are you a pregnant mother desiring to have well developed and healthy babies? Then, you should pay heed to what a Dietitian Nutritionist is saying.

Miss Patience Chima, who is of the, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) advises that you have adequate nutrients in your body, as a lack of it during pregnancy could cause foetal malformation and deformation in babies.

In fact, she told expectant mothers at the 6th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NISPGHAN) in Lagos, deficiency in certain nutrients while the baby is forming, would expose the fetus to risk to birth defects and learning disabilities.

According to her, “A mother must have enough nutrients to help in the formation of her unborn baby”, since “it is what the mother has in store that her baby takes for the first time”.

Miss Chima said If certain nutrients are lacking while the baby is forming, the fetus would be at risk to birth defects and learning disabilities.

“Preconception status is the nutritional status of the mother before conception and in our society; a lot of mothers do not plan pregnancy.

The nurse decried the attitude of some pregnant women to taking micronutrient supplements before, during and after pregnancy, saying it should not be.

Rather, pregnant women who expect healthy babies should like nutrients like folic acid which helps prevent birth defects in the baby’s brain and spinal cord.

“Sometimes when you see children with cleft palate and neural tube, it is basically caused by lack of folic acid; and then low iron causes brain deformation’’.
Reiterating the importance of breast milk, she urged nursing mothers to practice the act of exclusive breast feeding because of its advantages.