Imperforate Anus
In rare cases, a baby’s anus is sealed at birth, either because there is a thin membrane of skin over the opening or because the anal canal, which links the rectum with the anus, has not developed. The rectal pouch may be connected to the [...]
Pyloric Stenosis
In this condition, the pylorus, the passage that leads from the stomach into the small intestine, is narrow because of a thickening of the muscle. The cause is unknown, and it is more common in boys than in girls.
Babies With Down Syndrome
This is by far the most common of a range of conditions called trisomies, in which one pair of chromosomes has an extra chromosome, making three. In Down syndrome, there are three number 21 chromosomes. Affected infants characteristically have [...]
Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
A cleft is a split or separation of parts. During the early part of pregnancy, separate areas of the baby’s face and head develop individually, than join together. When joining does not take place or is incomplete, the baby can be born with [...]
Congenital Heart Disease
The most common form of heart disease in newborns is a hole in the ventricular septum – the thin dividing wall between the right and left ventricles (pumping chambers). About four weeks after birth, blood will “shunt” from left to right [...]
Hypospadias and Epispadias
In a very small number of male babies – about 0.3 percent – there is an abnormality in the position of the urethral opening on the penis. In epispadias, the opening is on the upper surface of the penis, and the penis may curve upward; in [...]
Baby Dislocated Hip
In about 0.4 percent of infants, the ball at the head of the thigh bone does not fit snugly into its socket in the hip bone. In a newborn, this is a potential rather than an actual problem. It is much more common in girls than in boys, and following [...]