Question: What is my chance of having a baby with a birth defect?
Answer:
In the United States, about 3% of babies are born with birth defects. Some women have a higher chance of having a child with a birth defect. Women over the age of 35 years have a higher chance of having a child with Down syndrome than women who are younger. If taken when a woman is pregnant, certain drugs can increase the chance of birth defects. Also, women who smoke and use alcohol while pregnant have a higher risk of having a baby with certain birth defects. Other women have a higher chance of having a baby with a birth defect because someone in their family had a similar birth defect. To learn more about your risk of having a baby with a birth defect, you can talk with a genetic counselor. Also, to reduce your chances of having a baby with a birth defect, talk with your health care provider about any medicines that you take, do not drink alcohol or smoke, and be sure to take 400 micrograms of the B vitamin folic acid every day. It is the amount of folic acid found in most multivitamins.
