It should be said that there is no good way to prevent the occurrence of cleft lip and palate. Because the causative factors of cleft lip and palate are diverse, it may be the result of multiple factors acting together during the same period or within different periods. Since the etiology is not known, it is essential to take active preventive measures in the early stages of pregnancy, especially before the 12th week of gestation.
Women of childbearing potential should be educated about it. Attention should be paid to the proper rationing of nutrients during pregnancy. In case of vomiting and partial eating, vitamins A, B2, B6, C, E and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and iron should be supplemented in time. Pregnant women should avoid excessive mental tension and emotional excitement, and maintain a happy and calm mood. Avoid frequent exposure to radioactivity and microwaves, avoid overexertion and trauma, quit smoking, refrain from alcohol abuse, try to avoid viral infections, and prohibit drugs that may cause fetal malformation after the disease.
The results of a study showed that a woman has an increased risk of having a child with cleft lip and palate if she has a variation in a genetic gene related to folic acid metabolism. However, this increased risk of developing cleft lip and palate only occurs when a pregnant woman does not consume enough folic acid. Cleft lip and cleft palate can occur alone or together and are the two most common infant birth defects. Some evidence has shown that inadequate folic acid supplementation increases the risk of a pregnant woman giving birth to a child with cleft lip and palate.
One possible reason for these occurrences is related to a genetic gene called MTHFR, which is involved in the metabolic process of folic acid. Researchers at Nijmegen University Medical Center in the Netherlands compared 179 families with children with cleft lip and palate with 204 families without the birth defect. In the study, women with certain MTHFR gene variants that affected folic acid metabolism in pregnant women were at a six-fold increased risk of having a child with cleft lip and palate if they were not able to take adequate folic acid supplements during pregnancy.
The gene variant is present in about 25% of mothers of children with cleft lip and palate, compared to 16% of mothers of healthy children. If they are neither able to take adequate folic acid supplements nor consume enough folic acid through their diet, they are at ten times higher risk of having a child with cleft lip and palate than normal women.
Why a lower intake of folic acid increases the risk of developing cleft lip and palate is not known, but the findings suggest that supplementation with more folic acid, whether through dietary supplementation or direct supplementation, may counteract the effects on folic acid metabolism due to genetic variation. Folic acid-rich foods include green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, whole grain breads and fried beans. U.S. guidelines recommend that women of reproductive age should take 400 mg of folic acid daily.
Nine tips to prevent “harelip” 1. Nutritional balance: The mother is the only source of nutrition for the fetus. It is very important to have a balanced and varied diet during pregnancy. Everything you eat and drink during pregnancy will have an impact on your baby. Eat more vegetables and fresh fruit, and less sugar, salt and processed foods.
2, emotional stability: when pregnant women have bad emotions such as worry, anxiety, irritability, fear, adrenocorticotropic hormone may affect the fusion function of certain tissues of the embryo, resulting in fetal cleft lip or cleft palate.
3, early treatment of diseases: pregnant women with diabetes, anemia, gynecological diseases and hypothyroidism diseases should be treated as early as possible.
4, careful use of drugs: the application of hormones or anti-tumor drugs, antihistamine drugs during pregnancy may lead to fetal malformations.
5.Avoid colds: The survey found that many mothers of harelip children had colds in the pre-pregnancy period, and viral infection is also one of the important factors leading to harelip. Therefore, women during pregnancy should pay special attention to the prevention of rubella and other viral infections.
6, away from radiation: young couples in the first three months of the decision to get pregnant, try to avoid contact with radioactive supplies, now many pregnant women have been to normal work until the birth, many offices are open places, piled with computers, dozens of cell phones used at the same time, very detrimental to the health of the fetus.
7, quit smoking and alcohol: a study in Mexico showed that “harelip” is due to the development of the upper lip and palate of the baby in the embryonic period is blocked, pregnant women long-term smoking and alcohol abuse leading to abnormal development of the embryo is one of the reasons.
8, master the timing of childbirth: doctors said that parents under 20 and over 35 years old have the greatest possibility of producing deformed children, because under 20 years old is not fully mature, and over 35 years old has begun to age, therefore, it is best for women to have children between the ages of 25 and 30.
9, pay attention to marriage checkups maternity checkups: it is best to conduct the first screening through marriage checkups before marriage for early detection of genetic diseases such as harelip. In addition, the presence of cleft lip and palate malformation can be seen in the ultrasound examination when the fetus is 20 to 24 weeks.