The most recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals cases of gastroschisis, a serious birth defect of the abdominal wall, have more than doubled over the past 18 years in the U.S. Babies ...

Birth defects — also known as congenital anomalies — are structural or functional conditions present at birth that can affect ...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A long-awaited study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between tainted tap water at a U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk ...

Two-thirds of women in their child-bearing years have an increased risk for birth defects due to a lifestyle factor they can change, a new study says. These risk factors -- low levels of vitamin B9 ...

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) recently caused a 2-month-old girl in Pennsylvania to suffer severe hearing loss after it was passed to her in the womb. While the virus can exist in a person for life without ...

NEW YORK, N.Y. (WPVI) -- Researchers are also learning more about HOW the Zika virus can cause the serious birth defect microcephaly. Several mouse studies show when a mother is infected in the first ...

Several drugs often prescribed to pregnant women are being linked to serious birth defects. The concern is with two medications. They were created to control epileptic seizures. But the drugs, ...

NEW YORK (AP) – A lab study has found that Zika can infect embryonic cells that help form the brain, adding to evidence that the virus causes a serious birth defect. The mosquito-borne virus is ...

As former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), we have spent our careers protecting ...

Need more of a reason to eat a healthy diet? Pregnant women who load up on fruits, veggies and whole grains have a reduced risk of having babies with neural tube defects, such as spina bifida or cleft ...

An analysis using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) among 5,374 women of reproductive age indicates that two thirds of women within this demographic have at least ...