How is the baby affected by congenital heart defects?
A defect in the heart can impair its ability to circulate oxygenated blood through the body. The baby may exhibit a variety of symptoms, such as a rapid heartbeat or breathing difficulties, especially during exercise. In infants, this tendency to tire easily may interfere with nursing and result in poor weight gain. Some children with heart defects show a pale grayish or bluish coloring of the skin. There are some babies and children with heart defects who experience no symptoms; the defect may be diagnosed when the doctor hears an abnormal sound called a murmur. Some defects are so slight that the baby may appear healthy for many years after birth.

What are the treatment options for congenital heart defects?
The prognosis for children with congenital heart defects has improved significantly in the past 40 years. Today, most heart defects can be corrected, or at least helped, by surgery, medicines, and devices such as pacemakers. There are prenatal tests that can detect many heart defects before birth. A special form of ultrasound may show a fetal heart that is beating too quickly or too slowly. In that case, medications may be able to restore a normal heart rhythm. Surgical interventions after birth have also improved. Until recently, it was often necessary to make temporary surgical repairs in infancy and postpone full corrective surgery until later in childhood. Today, half of children who require surgery to correct a heart defect can undergo the procedure before age 2.

Clubfoot

What is clubfoot?
Clubfoot describes a range of foot and ankle abnormalities. The defects can be mild or severe and can affect one or both feet. An affected foot points downward, with the toes turned in. If both feet are affected, as they are in about half of all cases, the toes will turn in toward each other rather than pointing straight ahead. The foot bones, ankle joints, and ligaments of the foot may be abnormal or tight, making it difficult to bring the foot into a normal position. There are also milder foot abnormalities that may appear similar to clubfoot.

How common is clubfoot?
Clubfoot is one of the most common birth defects. Each year, about 5,000 U.S. babies are born with the most severe forms of clubfoot. Clubfoot is almost twice as likely to affect boys. Milder forms of foot malformation are even more common and tend to affect both sexes equally. In most cases, doctors can't pinpoint what causes clubfoot. It was once thought that the malformations were caused by a twisted or cramped position in the mother's womb. But many scientists today believe clubfoot starts early in pregnancy, probably around the 10th week of gestation. Heredity and some environmental factors, such as smoking during pregnancy, are likely at the root of the defect.