What are cleft lip and cleft palate?
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that happen during pregnancy. Your baby’s lips form between 4 and 7 weeks, and the palate (roo ...
Help prevent neural tube defects before you get pregnant
Did you know that you can reduce your baby’s risk for neural tube defects (also called NTDs) before you get pregnant? NTDs are birth defects of t ...
Protecting yourself and your baby from syphilis
Did you know that syphilis is a preventable sexually transmitted infection (also called STI)? In 2019, the U.S. reported a growing number o ...
Your heart health and pregnancy
If you have a condition related to your heart, such as high blood pressure or heart disease, you may be worried about how it could affect a pregn ...
Preeclampsia can also happen after you’ve given birth
Preeclampsia is a serious blood pressure condition that can happen after the 20th week of pregnancy or after giving birth (called postpartum pree ...
Genetic conditions, counseling and testing
As Birth Defects Awareness Month wraps up, we want to shift the focus over to genetics, including information about genetic counseling and testin ...
Preconception checkups: why they’re important
Are you planning a pregnancy or thinking of getting pregnant sometime in the future? If so, it’s never too early to get ready for a healthy pregn ...
Why is 39 weeks so important?
Scheduling your baby’s birth means you and your health care provider decide when to have your baby. This can happy by inducing labor or cesarean ...
Good health habits and birth defects prevention
One of the best things you can do before getting pregnant is to make sure you’re in good health. Being in good health means having good health ha ...
January is National Birth Defects Awareness Month
Every year, leading organizations come together in January to raise awareness about birth defects and the impact these conditions have on familie ...