What doctors read

Women epileptics taking the anticonvulsant carbamaze pine who get pregnant have an increased risk of giving birth to a child with spina bifida.

FDA researchers concluded that the risk of giving birth to a child with this defect increased almost 14 times with the drug to l out of 1500 births, compared to 3 per 10,000 ordinarily.

Related WDDTY Content

Spina bifida: b12 also necessary

The US and Britain are planning to add folic acid to foods to reduce the risk of spina bifida babies. But new research shows this is only half the sto...

Giving birth over 30

The number of women giving birth over the age of 35 is steadily increasing. According to one estimate, by the year 2000, 40 per cent of births in the...

Spina bifida prevented

Taking folic acid (one of the B vitamins) can protect you from producing a baby with spina bifida. ...

Giving birth to junkies

In wealthy countries a majority of children are born with the use of pain relieving drugs. In wealthy countries drug addiction is increasing. ...

Solvents at work linked to major birth defects

Women who are exposed to organic solvents while they are pregnant have a 13 fold risk of giving birth to a baby with a serious congenital malformation...

Giving birth: water's good, and the sooner the better

Most maternity units accept that water births are far kinder to the mother and can significantly reduce labour pains But the role of the birthing...