This is the news page for the Born Healthy network and we welcome thoughts and contributions from all members – whether updates on how you are using the toolkit, or about developments in the wider field of congenital disorders. It’s your page and a quick and easy way to share news and information.
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Health professionals working in the field of congenital disorders can now benefit from six new toolkit topics.
We are delighted to announce that the PHG Foundation Health Needs Assessment Toolkit for Congenital Disorders is now freely available to the public.
Notes from the meeting in June 2011
Click here to download the minutes
Notes from the meeting in November 2010
Click here to download the minutes
Read how Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have been piloting the HNA Toolkit
Click here to download the report
A selection of recent related articles from around the world.
A new UK initiative will collate the largest DNA database of samples from children born with cleft lip and palate in an attempt to determine the underlying causes of these relatively common birth defects.
New research published in the journal Diabetologia suggests that the risk of birth defects is four times higher in pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes.
Data from more than 400,000 UK pregnancies (including nearly 1700 diabetic pregnancies) show a significantly increased risk of conditions such as congenital heart disease and spina bifida. The risk rose from around 19 cases per 1000 births to 72 cases per 1000 births among diabetic mothers. Researchers noted the importance of good blood sugar control in the earliest weeks of pregnancy to minimise the risk of such abnormalities in the fetus.
Our view:
Diabetes is known to be associated with various complications of pregnancy, but this latest finding is of additional public health relevance in the light of the rising levels of diabetes among women of child-bearing age in many countries around the world resulting from increasing overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
A prenatal and newborn-screening network will be expanded throughout the country to reach the target of serving 30 per cent of newborn babies and 15 per cent of pregnant women by 2015, according to Department of Population and Family Planning
Medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) is a rare, life-threatening condition. Early diagnosis by screening asymptomatic newborns may improve outcome, but the benefit to newborns identified with variants not encountered clinically is uncertain.
New gene editing technique would heal patients with their own cells