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Rising birth defects

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-15 07:54

With the obvious improvement in living standards and higher level of health care in recent decades, the rising rather than falling rate of birth defects among newborns merits attention.

Statistics from the Beijing municipal health bureau show that the rate of birth defects was 170.82 per 10,000 in the capital city in 2008, nearly twice as high as the 90.78 per 10,000 in 1997. Statistics suggest that a similar pattern prevails in other provinces and regions. The number of newborns with defects is as many as around 1 million nationwide annually.

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It goes without saying that a baby with birth defect will greatly diminish the happiness that the addition of a new member brings to the family. The medical expenses and worries about the future of such babies will affect adversely the family's economy and psychology. The increasing number of such newborns will, at the same time, become a heavy burden on social security.

Despite pre-marital medical checkup, regular examinations during pregnancy and other measures to reduce birth defects, their steady increase reminds us of the necessity to look at our way of life and the deteriorating environment.

In the country's most developed city of Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province, the rate of birth defects was as high as more than 170 per 10,000 at the turn of the century. It was reported that workplace air pollution and contaminated working environment were one of the causes.

In that case, how can birth defect rate be so high in Beijing where the air is cleaner and working condition better for white-collar workers than in Guangzhou?

This has a lot to do with our way of life, including stress. A lot of white-collar workers are under heavy pressure and they seldom spare time for outdoor activities. In addition, they have to work on computers for many hours a day. Anyone working in such a state will definitely suffer a negative impact on his or her overall health condition, which, in turn, will affect the health of their babies.

Such bad habits as drinking, smoking and staying up late on the part of parents can also cause birth defects.

Moreover, an increasing number of professionals choose to have children late in life because of career pressure. In order to get better positions or pay, many young women postpone having babies until they have missed the best years for childbirth. That also increases the chance of birth defects.

So apart from making more effort to better protect our environment from further pollution, we also need to think about the sacrifices we make for material comforts. Young urban professionals may need to be taught how to give themselves some respite from the pressures of both work and life.

(China Daily 09/15/2009 page8)