It is the wish of every parent to have a healthy baby, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. After a long and painful pregnancy, parents finally wait for the birth of a child, only to give birth to a child with congenital defects. Some people even shout that God is not fair, is it really the injustice of God? In fact, we should not blame God and worry about people, but should blame themselves. Medical research has found that there are many causes for the birth of a child with congenital defects, and a significant portion can be prevented. Congenital defects are developmental disorders that have developed in children before birth, including congenital mental retardation, morphological and structural abnormalities, and congenital malformations with abnormal metabolic functions. Since various developmental disorders occur before birth, such children are usually referred to as congenitally defective children. Common congenital defect children include the following categories: (1) mental retardation: including congenital mental retardation due to various chromosomal aberrations, such as congenital stupidity, lead poisoning, congenital rubella syndrome, etc. (2) Developmental delay: Although there are genetic factors, it is more often caused by environmental factors, such as malnutrition, alcoholism, smoking, intrauterine infection, etc. Most of them have physical deformities after birth and are accompanied by poorer development. (3) Congenital malformations: Among them are malformations visible to the naked eye on the body surface, such as harelip and syndactyly; and malformations of internal organ tissues, such as hydronephrosis, congenital heart disease, etc. (4) Dysfunction: These include congenital deafness, mute, blindness, and also metabolic abnormalities, such as phenylketonuria. One of the causative factors: viral infection Viral infection usually refers to Toxoplasma gondii (T), rubella virus (R), cytomegalovirus (C), herpes simplex virus (C) and other viral infections, referred to as TORCH. these viruses enter the mother’s body and act on the fetus through the placenta, causing fetal infection and fetal malformation or abnormal development. The common malformations include congenital cataract, precocious heart disease, microcephaly or anencephaly, and dementia. Generally speaking, most pregnant women infected with TORCH pathogens show recessive infection and have no obvious symptoms, but they can have serious effects on the fetus. In recent years, developed countries in the West and some hospitals in China have been carrying out perinatal TORCH screening, taking blood or cervical secretions from pregnant women for testing, and taking appropriate measures as soon as a positive result is detected. Preventive measures: (1) Pregnant women should avoid going to crowded public places as much as possible to prevent virus infection. (2) It is best to avoid contact with pets such as cats when preparing for pregnancy. When Toxoplasma gondii infection is diagnosed in the body, take immediate treatment and wait until the serum antibody turns negative before considering pregnancy. (3) To prevent rubella virus infection, rubella virus attenuated vaccine can be administered before pregnancy, but avoid pregnancy for 3 months after vaccination. (4) Women with primary herpes simplex virus infection should wait for a period of time for the symptoms to clear before considering pregnancy. (5) Pregnant women with viral infections especially in the first 3 months should have regular prenatal checkups and terminate the pregnancy decisively if a malformed fetus is found. Pregnant women who smoke not only affect their own health, but also directly affect the development of the fetus. There are more than 20 kinds of toxic substances in tobacco, of which nicotine is the most toxic, it can be directly into the fetus through the placenta, slowing the development of the embryo, causing malformations, miscarriage and congenital heart disease; because of the poor detoxification ability of the fetal liver, smoke also has damage to the fetal liver; the brain of the fetus is poisoned by toxic substances in the smoke, which can delay the development of intelligence, and even stillbirth. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can also cause fetal malformations. The reason for this is that alcohol can enter the embryo through the placenta and affect fetal development, resulting in small head deformities, protruding foreheads, small eye fissures, short nasal bridges, nostrils facing the sky, inwardly closing upper lips, windy ears and other strange faces, and even congenital malformations of the heart and limbs. Preventive measures: For the health of the baby, it is best for pregnant women to stay away from smoking and alcohol; pay special attention not to smoke passively. Clinical statistics show that about 100,000 children with anencephaly or spina bifida are born each year in China, mainly due to nutritional deficiencies, especially folic acid. According to statistics, folic acid deficiency is common among women of childbearing age in China. Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin that cannot be synthesized in the body and must be consumed from folic acid-rich foods. Insufficient intake before or during pregnancy can easily lead to megaloblastic anemia in pregnant women, usually during the critical period of 3 to 8 weeks after fertilization, further inducing neural tube lesions in the embryo. If the front end of the neural tube is poorly closed, congenital malformations such as spina bifida or anencephaly can be formed. Preventive measures: (1) Eat more folic acid-rich foods from the first 3 months of pregnancy, such as: lettuce, spinach, watermelon, prunes, hawthorn, cherries and animal liver. (2) Correct improper cooking habits to avoid destroying folic acid in the cooking process. That is, do not cook vegetables for a long time and the temperature should not be too high. (3) If necessary, take folic acid supplements, such as folic acid tablets, etc. Trigger 4: Inappropriate make-up Due to the change of endocrine function in the body during pregnancy, pigmentation spots will appear on the face of pregnant women. In order to increase facial beauty, they often dress themselves up with cosmetics. Cosmetics contain toxic substances such as arsenic, lead and mercury, which are absorbed by the skin and mucous membranes of pregnant women and can enter the fetal blood circulation through the blood-fetal barrier, affecting the normal development of the fetus and leading to fetal malformation. In addition, some chemical components in cosmetics can also produce aromatic amines with teratogenic effects after being exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun, causing fetal malformations. Preventive measures: Pregnant women should not use cosmetics during pregnancy; if they must use them, they should be light. Placenta aging is mostly seen in pregnant women of advanced age or overdue pregnancy. In recent years, it has been found that repeated abortions, especially within a short period of time, cause thinning of the uterine mucosa and poor repair of the uterine mucosa. When another pregnancy occurs, the blood flow to the placenta decreases during the formation and development of the placenta, which affects the formation and development of the placenta. In turn, placental development directly affects the growth and development of the fetus. If the placenta is poorly developed, the blood flow to the embryo and even the fetus is reduced, and the fetus lacks nutrition, malformed children will be produced. Preventive measures: married women of childbearing age should take reliable contraceptive measures to minimize abortion; adolescent girls should eliminate premarital sex to prevent endless problems. The effect of drugs on the fetus is related to the intentional or unintentional use of certain drugs by couples of childbearing age before and after conception. A variety of drugs have been found to cause fetal malformations, especially in the early stages of pregnancy (2-8 weeks), which is a highly sensitive period for fetal teratogenesis. Although most drugs are safe for the fetus, the use of certain drugs during the teratogenic hypersensitivity period can cause serious damage to fetal growth and development. Common teratogenic drugs include: (1) Some antibiotics, such as streptomycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, etc., can cause congenital deafness, kidney damage and other congenital malformations in the fetus. (2) Tetracycline and doxycycline can cause congenital malformations such as congenital cataract, shortage of fingers or limbs, brownish teeth or dysplasia in fetus. (3) Aspirin can cause congenital malformations such as damage to the fetal skeletal system, nervous system, and kidney. (4) Rifampin can cause congenital malformations such as fetal urinary tract and hydrocephalus. (5) Sex hormones can cause congenital malformations such as feminization of male fetus and masculinization of female fetus. (6) Oral contraceptives can cause congenital malformations such as congenital heart disease in the fetus. (7) Glucocorticoid preparations, such as cortisone, can cause congenital malformations such as harelip, cleft palate and anencephaly in the fetus. (8) Sedative drugs, such as barbiturates and Valium, can cause fetal finger (toe) shortening, nostril linkage, and intrauterine growth retardation Preventive measures: (1) Both spouses should use various drugs carefully when preparing for pregnancy or during the first 3 months of pregnancy. (2) Women who are likely to conceive should consider whether their menstruation has expired when using medication. (3) Pregnant mothers should seek medical attention when they feel unwell and tell the doctor exactly when they conceived so that they can choose medications that are not harmful to the fetus. (4) Medication (including Chinese medicine) used in early pregnancy should be used under the guidance of a doctor and should not be abused without permission. (5) The principles of medication for pregnant women are: not to use a combination of drugs if one can be used; the dose of medication should be small and the course of treatment should be short, and teratogenic drugs should not be used as much as possible. The early pregnancy period, especially in the first 12 weeks, is the time when the fetal organs are highly differentiated and formed. If a pregnant woman receives X-rays during this period, it is very easy to cause congenital defects in the fetus, such as small head, dementia, small eyes, hydrocephalus, etc. Preventive measures: (1) Pregnant women should preferably refrain from X-ray examinations during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Abdominal fluoroscopy should preferably be postponed until after 28 weeks of pregnancy; pelvic X-ray measurement or chest X-ray should be scheduled after 36 weeks of pregnancy. (2) If you have X-ray or radioisotope treatments and examinations without knowing you are pregnant, you can go to a specialist obstetrician for advice on whether to continue the pregnancy or terminate it. (3) If you are engaged in radiation-related work, it is better to leave your post temporarily during pregnancy and do other work instead. Causes: bad emotions Human emotions are controlled by the central nervous system and the endocrine system, and one of the endocrine hormones, adrenocorticotropic hormone, is closely related to the changes in human emotions. If a pregnant woman’s emotions are too tense, frustrated, fearful, angry or restless for a long time in the first three months of pregnancy, the adrenocortical hormones delivered to the fetus will become dysregulated, hindering the growth and development of certain tissues of the embryo, causing malformations such as cleft lip and cleft palate of the fetus, and even triggering miscarriage. In addition, in the late pregnancy, the bad mood of pregnant women will cause imbalance between the brain and internal organs of the fetus, which will affect the formation of the fetus’ personality and lead to “abnormal children”, such as hyperactivity, picky eating, crying, temper tantrums, etc. Preventive measures: (1) Pregnant women should pay attention to stabilize their emotions from the time they prepare for pregnancy until delivery, and maintain an optimistic spirit. (2) Don’t worry about the normal development of the fetus, painful or difficult delivery, lack of milk or change of body shape after delivery all day long, let yourself feel calm and open. (3) Whenever you get angry or lose your temper, think more about how it will be detrimental to the fetus in your womb and help yourself adjust your mood. (4) Always admonish yourself with quotations in your life to keep a good mood, and try to keep your mind free from delusions, your ears free from evil sounds, and your eyes free from evil colors.