Prenatal diet and nutrition affects risk of birth defects

A new study out of Stanford University, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that "better maternal diet quality was associated with reduced risk for selected birth defects." Reviewing data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, researchers found that pregnant women who ate along the lines of a Mediterranean diet or followed the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid (now called MyPlate), had a significantly lower chance of their baby being born with a neural tube defect or orafacial cleft. The CDC reports that one in 33 babies is born with a birth defect and one out of every five born with one of those defects perishes as a result, making birth defects the leading cause of death among newborns. Although genetic defects are possible when one or more of the parents have abnormalities in their genes, most of the children born with a defect do not have a family history of them and are essentially a surprise, but a lot of the common defects can be prevented if the mother takes precautions during pregnancy. Dr Peter Nathanielsz, director of the Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Research at the University of Texas'' Health Science Center School of Medicine, has noted that early pregnancy is a "critical time window when many of the neurons as well as the supporting cells in the brain are born." In addition to birth defects, diet during pregnancy could alter a child''s DNA, through a process called epigenetic change, which could lead to a child putting on extra weight later in life. University of Southhampton researchers found that regardless of the normal weight of the mother, her diet particularly in the first trimester can effect genetic changes that will make her offspring more likely to gain an excess of fatty tissue.