The occurrence of birth defects has been common, costly and critical in the United States. The birth defects are changes in structure of the child’s body that can affect any part or parts of the body such as the heart, foot, brain, spine and many more. The birth defects occur at any pregnancy stage and mostly occur in the first three months of pregnancy. The causes of most birth defects are a mix of complex factors such as genes, behaviors and environmental factors.
Regarding birth defects, Hispanic women are more likely to have a baby with a defect and almost a quarter of most preterm births in the United States are Hispanic. Healthy People 2020, Leading Health Indicator (LHI) describes birth defects as a leading cause for infant’s death and posits that some deaths can be prevented with early detection. It is of significance to share critical pregnancy health information among the Hispanics to help them in planning, prenatal care as well as perpetuating health behaviors to protect the babies from these defects. This paper will examine the birth defects among Hispanic women that will help in the planning as well as promoting healthy pregnancy behaviors to keep mothers and their families healthy.
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Hispanic Mothers Risk of Birth Defects
According to March of Dime (2014), Hispanic mothers are at risk of having newborns with serious neural tube defects in the brain. The March of Dimes also indicates that most babies are born prematurely to Hispanics than women of any other ethnic backgrounds. In the United States, it is recorded that most women of Hispanic origin give birth to more babies each year than any other population. The report further indicates that out of the 17 percent of the Hispanic population, 24 percent of premature babies are composed of Hispanics. The March of Dime represents the support of motherhood and to educate and advocate for strong healthy babies.
Most of the preterm babies in the United States are born by Hispanic women who are of young age and are not entitled to the health insurance and resources. Preterm born infants increase the risk of infant death in the first days of life as well as contributing to the child’s devastating and lifelong disabilities. Another type of infant deficiency is anotia/microtia, which is an external ear abnormality and it is known for women being exposed to certain chemicals from where they emigrated from and not having enough resources to protect themselves and baby ( The National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 2014) . Hispanic women are more common than Whites suffering from ear deformity.
As much as Hispanic women are diverse, they share some common health concerns. In most cases, the babies that are conceived by Hispanic women have severe birth defects of the spine (NTDs) and the brain. The disparity that leads to severe birth defects is not clearly understood but this is attributed to the low intake of folic acid by the Hispanic women ( Folic Acid Education for Hispanic Women, 2017 ). Most Hispanics prefer corn masa flour which is not fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin that is primarily involved in the prevention of nerve tube defects. In addition, Hispanic women rarely take multivitamin that contain folic acid before becoming pregnant. This study will greatly contribute to the improvement of the Healthy People 2020 program, since it is tackling one of the issues that belong within the main goal of the Healthy People 2020, which is to improve the health and well-being of women, infants, children and families ( Division of Reproductive Health, 2014 ).
Summary of Article 1
Sociodemographic and Hispanic Acculturation Factors and Isolated Anotia/Microtia
In the article of The National Birth Defects Prevention Study (2014), a summary is provided of a study of infants with a deficiency called Anotia/Microtia, which is an ear malformation that is mostly common in the Hispanic ethnic group compared to other racial groups. There are about 30 different cases of anotia/microtia deformities that an infant can have. This study was examined by Hispanic women ethnicity, sociodemographic and the acculturation factors (age, maternal education, household income, smoking, line in the U.S, etc.) that can cause this type of birth defect. It presented Hispanic mothers emigrating from Mexico to the U.S as having developed more birth defects from anotia/microtia compared to Non-Hispanic whites or Hispanics living in the U.S. This article helped to understand the odd factors of an infant having isolated anotia/microtia among Hispanic parents.
Summary of Article 2
Markers of acculturation & risk of NTDs among Hispanic women in California
From the Carmichael et al. (2016) article, it is indicated that the prevalence of NTDs among Hispanic women is between 50 to 100 percent and is greater in Hispanic women than non-Hispanic Whites. In this article, the understanding of the acculturation association with the risk of NTD among women of Hispanic origin will lead to high-risk groups’ identification. Apparently, nationalization is the change in values, behaviors and attitudes toward mainstream patterns. It is noted that Hispanic women that are less acculturated will have the highest risk of NTD as compared to more acculturated women. The Carmichael et al. (2016) article has also helped in understanding the association of acculturation with NTDs among the Hispanic women.
Summary of Article 3
Folic Acid Education for Hispanic Women
Folic Acid Education for Hispanic Women: The Promotora de Salud Model (2017 ), summarizes the fortification policy of folic acid and examines the folic acid fortification effects in an intervention by Promotora de Salud model for Hispanic women to intake in their staple diet. The article indicated various findings from the fortification of masa flour. Primarily, masa flour fortification results to the NTDs reduction by 36 percent and neural tube defects cases is prevented among the Hispanic women by consuming this supplement. The results demonstrated that Hispanic women obtaining folic acid supplements can help foster positive health behaviors and this organization can reduce the risk of Hispanic women birth defects.
Health Promotion Project
Folic education for Hispanic women
Since the Hispanic community regards masa flour as their staple food, valuable information on the importance of folic acid, a B vitamin that helps in the prevention of NTDs should be provided. The Hispanic women should be enlightened on when to take and encouraged to consume folic acid before the pregnancy begins and into the early months of pregnancy. To bring more insight and awareness to the Hispanic women, cultural and educational CDs and DVDs that majorly focus on Hispanic diet diversity will be utilized. Additionally, the Hispanic women will be encouraged to eat fortified masa flour and a diet rich in natural folate.
Conclusion
It has been noted that the occurrence of birth defects has been critical, common and costly both to the Hispanic community and the entire United States. It is, therefore, recommended that Hispanic women should be encouraged to incorporate folic acid as well as multivitamins in their diet to prevent nerve tube defects and/or to decrease any risk of deformity . More so, proper planning, and establishing a prenatal care will maintain healthy behavior, which should be adopted to promote healthy families among the Hispanic women.
References
Carmichael, S. L., Shaw, G. M., Song, J., & Abrams, B. (2016). Markers of acculturation and risk of NTDs among Hispanic women in California. Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology , 82 (11), 755-762. Accessed from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2861572/
Flores A, Isenburg J, Mai C, et al. Folic Acid Education for Hispanic Women: The Promotora de Salud Model. Journal of Women's Health (15409996) [serial online]. February 2017; 26(2):186-194. Available from: Health Policy Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299051/
Hoyt, A. T., Canfield, M. A., Shaw, G. M., Waller, D. K., Polen, K. N., Ramadhani, T. The National Birth Defects Prevention Study (2014). Sociodemographic and Hispanic Acculturation Factors and Isolated Anotia/Microtia. Birth Defects Research. Part A, Clinical and Molecular Teratology , 100 (11), 852–862. Accessed from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706758/
Division of Reproductive Health (2014). Maternal and Infant Health Research: Pregnancy Complications. Atlanta, GA. Available from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Maternal-Infant-and-Child-Health
March of Dimes. (2014). Health of Hispanic moms and babies a growing concern. Available from https://www.marchofdimes.org/news/health-of-hispanic-moms-and-babies-a-growing-concern-new-report-says.aspx
