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How many people are affected by or at risk for spina bifida?

Researchers estimate about 1,300 infants are born with spina bifida each year in the United States.1

Anyone can give birth to an infant with spina bifida. However, parents who already have a child with spina bifida or another neural tube defect have an increased risk of having a second child with spina bifida. The chances increase even more when parents have more than one child with spina bifida. Also, one parent with a neural tube defect increases the chance that their child will have spina bifida.2

Women who have obesity, poorly controlled diabetes, or low folate levels; or who take certain antiseizure medications are at greater risk of having a child with spina bifida.2,3

Citations

  1. Canfield, M. A., Honein, M. A., Yuskiv, N., Xing, J., Mai, C. T., Collins, J. S., et al. (2006). National estimated and race/ethnic-specific variation of selected birth defects in the United States, 1999–2001. Birth Defects Research. Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology, 76(11), 747–756.
  2. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). (2003, July; reaffirmed 2008). Neural tube defects (ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 44). Washington, DC: Author.
  3. Fichter, M. A., Dornseifer, U., Henke, J., Schneider, K. T., Kovacs, L., Biemer, E., et al. (2008). Fetal spina bifida repair–current trends and prospects of intrauterine neurosurgery. Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, 23(4), 271–286.
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