Gastroschisis Research Paper

471 Words2 Pages

Gastroschisis is a birth defect in which an infant 's intestines are outside of the body because of a hole in the abdominal wall (Medline). Gastroschisis is said to be a rupture/ hernia. This birth defect causes the babies intestines to sticks out through a hole in their abdomen. Gastroschisis is closely related to a defect called omphalocele, which the abdominal organ comes out through the belly button and is surrounded by a membrane. Sometimes the size of the hole can be large enough for other organs to stick out like the infant’s stomach or liver. Gastroschisis is normally detected in the third month of pregnancy by having an ultrasound as early as 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy. The will mother normal has an excessive amount of amniotic …show more content…

Parents.com reported that Coleen Boyle of CDC said that not knowing why more and more babies are born with this kind of defect concerns them greatly. She also said that in order to figure out how or why this defect is happening, more public research should be done immediately. Doctors are still unable to tell if the defect is brought about by genetics, ingestion, or exposure to something during the course of the pregnancy, or a combination of both. A surgical procedure may be done to place the organs back inside the baby 's body and to repair the abdominal wall. However, the baby may still suffer the effects of the defect such as feeding and digestion problems, as well as the absorption of nutrients their body needs. Babies with gastroschisis commonly have feeding challenges the first few weeks of life. Infants born with gastroschisis can normal go on to live normal lives. The mortality rate is 17% (Medline). I chose this birth defect because of two of my friend experienced it. One friend lost her son a 3month and my other friend daughter just turned eight. She recently asked her mom why her belly doesn’t look like everyone else’s and sometimes she has severe stomach

More about Gastroschisis Research Paper

Open Document