Between day twenty-five and twenty-seven of pregnancy, normally before a woman even knows she is pregnant, the neural tube that ultimately becomes the brain and spinal cord begins to develop and eventually close. When the neural tube fails to close, the outcome is a neural tube defect called anencephaly.
Anencephaly is a congenital birth defect and is characterized by the absence of the prosencephalon (fore-brain), cerebrum, cerebellum, and cranium. Part of the brain-stem is usually present. The head usually stops just above the eyebrows and slopes backwards. Since the head stops so suddenly, many babies appear to have bulging eyes. Some are born with cyclopia, the presence of only one eye centered in the middle of the forehead. Anencephalic babies have been known to be called “frog babies” due to their appearance. There may or may not be skin covering the opening of the head, making part of the brain visible. Babies born with anencephaly are said to be unable to hear, feel, or see and only have reflex behaviors such as breathing and responding to sound or touch. Without the cerebrum, the child will never gain consciousness. Heart defects are also common. The prognosis is death within minutes to a few days after birth.
As the most common neural tube defect, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that 1 in every 4,859 babies are born with anencephaly here in the United States. More females are diagnosed than males, with a ratio of 3 to 2. The diagnosis is made by performing an ultrasound and an amniocentesis. An ultrasound detects high levels of amniotic fluid (polyhydramnios), which is a symptom of brain and nervous system disorders and makes the probability of premature birth twice as likely. An amniocentesis is used to di...
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...e allows the family to begin the journey to healing.
Works Cited
"Anencephaly." Anencephaly. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
Choe, Jaywon. "Boy Born without a Brain Dies after Three-year 'miracle Life'" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 02 Nov. 2012. Web. 14 May 2014.
"Facts about Anencephaly." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 July 2013. Web. 13 May 2014.
"Frequently Asked Questions about Anencephaly." FAQ about Anencephaly. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
Gilman, Samantha J. "Use of Anencephalic Infants as an Organ Source: An On-Going Question, The." Elon L. Rev. 4 (2012): 71.
"Rare Birth Defects Still Spiking in Washington State - NBC News." NBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
"Unconscious Life: The Occurrence and Complications of Anencephaly." Serendip Studio. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
a baby ranging from low birth weight and abnormalities to death. There are a few government
Kemp, Joe. “Fetus of pregnant, brain-dead Texas woman ‘distinctly abnormal’: lawyers.” NYDailyNews. New York Daily News. 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
In Jan Tecklin’s book, Pediatric Physical Therapy, he states that “spina bifida is the second most common birth defect after Down syndrome” (163). Spina bifida includes any birth defect where the spinal canal is not completely closed. It is considered to be a neural tube defect or an NTD. The
There is a low susses rate for a child of a maternal brain dead mother for the baby to live. When a woman is declared brain dead they are sent for burial or other final respects. In this case, however, the woman is pregnant and there is a fetus to think about. The problem lies with the susses rate of the child be born or being born without any complications. There are only 5 reported successful cases of brain death births (Lsaacson et al. 1996). The body at this point is just used for an incubator for the unborn child. The rate for the child to come out with no complications or in the body of the mother to produce complications is less than 10% (Lsaacson et al. 1996). Knowing all of this, why would one want to put their body through all of this for such a low success rate with current medical technologies.
Peterson-Iyer, Karen. "Confronting a Fetal Abnormality." http://www.scu.edu. Santa Clara University, Jan. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .
…The infant had been born with anencephaly, or lack of cranial development. The infant’s skull was an open sore that the nurses packed and layered with gauze to give his face a round appearance. Because of lack of cerebral hemispheres, the infant was incapable of any conscious activity. After his birth, the infant was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and placed in a bassinet. He was reported to be kicking and breathing, and his ...
During fetal growth, the neural tube can develop any number of abnormalities. These “malformations occur because the tube fails to close properly, because parts of it are missing, or because part of the tube is blocked” (neural tube defect, 2014). Ramírez-Altamirano et al. (2012) have stated that “the most common types of neural tube defect are anencephaly, spina bifida, and encephalocele, all of which represent 95% of the cases.” Anencephaly is the most severe form of neural tube defect. In this condition the cephalic portion of the neural tube fails to close properly, resulting in very little cerebral tissue forming. Infants born with this defect are usually stillborn or live for a very short amount of time. Spina bifida consists of “a group of malformations of the spine in which the posterior portion of the bony canal containing the spinal cord is completely or partially absent” (Frazier & Drzymkowski, 2013, p. 63). This condition typically affects the lumbar portion of the neural tube, a...
Predict the effects of failure of the foramen ovale and/or ductus arteriorus to close shortly after birth.
First let’s discuss what anencephaly is. Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. This birth defect happens during the first month of pregnancy and usually before a woman knows she is pregnant. Anencephaly happens if the upper part of the neural tube does
In this time period, it takes about 11 to 15 days for the attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall, making the zygote form an attachment. The next stage of prenatal development is the embryonic period. This is the period of prenatal development that occurs from two to eight weeks after conception. During this period, the cells are multiplying at rapid speeds, support systems begin to form, and organs begin to show up. This period is when the umbilical cord, the life support system that connects the baby to the placenta is formed. The placenta allows small blood vessels to go from the mother to the baby. This is how the baby can get food from its mother. Mothers need to be very careful what they eat and drink, because everything that they do will affect their baby. If they drink or do drugs, it can severely affect the babies development. By the time most woman find out they are pregnant (5-8 weeks) the organs have already begun forming. “At about 21 days, eyes begin to appear, and at 24 days the heart cells begin to differentiate.” During the fourth week, the arms and legs being to grow. At eight weeks, the organism is just about one inch long and the face has started to develop.
A premature baby is born before 36 or 37 weeks of a female 's pregnancy. Premature infants are born too soon and do not have the capacity to survive on their own. Their organs are immature. These newborn children have a tendency to be underweight and needing earnest consideration. Being an premature child can be the essential enemy of all babies. The rate of untimely children have ascended tremendously. Somewhere around 8 and 10 percent of them have been birthed in the United States (“"National Prematurity Awareness Month.”). Dealing with an premature infant is extremely milestone in life, because of their confusions and uncommon needs required.
An individual who is born with microcephaly has a small, elongated cranium. Microcephaly is a neurological disorder and
This process is called conception, the female is now officially two weeks pregnant and the fertilized egg is called a zygote. Let’s move on to pregnancy. Pregnancy is a state in which a woman carries a fertilized egg inside her body, it usually lasts up to 40 weeks, and it is divided into three trimesters, each lasting three months. The first month. The embryo is about a third of an inch long. The head, trunk, and the beginnings of the arms and legs have started to develop. By this month, the embryo starts to receive nutrients and releases waste through the umbilical cord and placenta. The heart also starts to beat. The second month. The heart is now pumping and the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord begins to develop. The fetus is 1 in 2.5cm now and has developed cartilage skeleton. The arms, legs, facial features and other major organs begin to appear. The third month. The fetus has grown up to 4 in 10cm and weighs a little more than an ounce. The major blood vessels are almost completed and the face starts to show up more. The kidneys and the 4 chambers of the heart are now complete. The fourth month. The fetus is now 4 oz of 112g and can kick and swallow. The
Preterm birth is defined as ‘any neonate whose birth occurs before the thirty seventh week of gestation’1 and represents approximately eight percent of all pregnancies1-4. It is eminent that these preterm infants are at risk of physical and neurological delay, with prolonged hospitalisation and an increased risk of long-term morbidity evident in prior literature3, 5-13. Innovative healthcare over the past thirty years has reduced mortality significantly14, with the survival rate of preterm infants having increased from twenty five percent in 1980 to seventy three percent in 200715. Despite, this drop in mortality long-term morbidity continues to remain within these surviving infants sparking a cause for concern15, 16.
The first period, the germinal period, is classified as the first two weeks after conception, that is identified by how fast cells divide and differentiate. During this phase a zygote duplicates. After that differentiation begins, this is where early cells take on their own characteristics and move to their predetermined locations. Once that is complete a cell mass will then become either a placenta or a nucleus, together they will become the embryo. The second period is called the embryonic period. This. Is this stage of development that occurs during the third to the eighth week after conception. During this phase, the basic structural forms of the baby's body appear. At the beginning of this period a line (the primitive streak) appears turning into the neural tube, and eventually turning into the central nervous system. in the fourth week eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and minuscule blood vessels (becoming the heart) begin to appear. Between the fifth week and the end of the embryonic period arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, and toes appear. The final stage, the