Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

The parents or future parents interested in the types of congenital defects should know that these are also known as birth defects and they represent functional or structural abnormalities that are present at birth. Some of these defects may turn out to be fatal.

Brain and nervous system

Birth defects of the brain and the nervous system include autism, Prader-Will syndrome, Fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome. The effects of these defects include language and speech difficulties, behavioral disorders, problems with movement and convulsions.

Metabolic problems

In case you are interested in the congenital defects kinds you may know about hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria. These disorders involve the reactions and the processes that the body has in order to get rid of the waste products and other harmful chemicals.

Degenerative disorders

When it comes to the different types of congenital defects you may be thinking about Rett syndrome, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, lysosomal disorder, and muscular dystrophy. These problems may not be obvious upon birth but they can lead to deteriorating health.

Sensory problems

These kinds of congenital defects affect the senses of children, such as the eye and ears. They include cataract, blindness and deafness. It is possible that the baby isn’t entirely blind or deaf, but there is some degree of vision or hearing loss.

Structural types of congenital defects

These defects are related to different body parts. They include cleft palate, cleft lip, heart defects (such as missing or misshaped valves) or abnormal limbs (for instance club foot). The neural tube defects like spina bifida also belong to this category. These are connected to the development of the spinal cord or the brain.

Treatment options

The sad truth about the majority of the types of birth defects is that their majority doesn’t have any treatment options, such as Down syndrome. There are some methods to make the symptoms manageable, but it is impossible to make the problems disappear. The best thing that you could do is to talk to your health care provider about the case of your child.

The parents should be aware of the possibility of their child having different types of congenital defects, but they shouldn’t think too much about them because the information will only scare them. The good news is that the defects of this kind are relatively rare and there aren’t as many children affected as you may think.