Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Studies link obese mothers to infant birth defects

Recent studies have shown that pregnant women who are obese are more likely to have babies with rare but serious birth defects, including spina bifida, heart anomalies, cleft palate, and hydrocephaly, according to a New York Times article.   
Massachusetts attorney Thomas M. Kiley, concentrates on legal issues associated with birth defects.

According to the article, research recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed 39 earlier studies and found that the risk of spina bifida was 2.2 times higher for babies of obese mothers, compared to babies born to normal birth weight mothers.  The research also found that the risk of other neural tube infant defects was 1.8 times higher.  These babies also faced increases in risk for heart defects, stunted limbs, a congenital malformation of the anal opening, and hydrocephaly, also called water on the brain.