China's Rise in Birth Defects Linked to Increased Pollution

While it's no surprise that China's pollution problems have taken a toll on the health of all citizens, pollution may even harm the health of China's children while they're still in the womb.  According to Li Bin of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, a baby is born with physical defects in China every thirty seconds. 

Jiang Fan, also of the commission, says that rapid rise in the rate of newborns with birth defects has caused the commission to launch a "high-prevention plan."  The plan includes pre-pregnant examinations in eight of the provinces with the most defects, but the commission did not release further details. 

Between 2001 and 2006, birth defects increased 40%, during which time the economy grew tremendously, as did levels of pollution.  Many experts blame the increased instances of birth defects on the high pollution levels, which could account for about ten percent of the number of birth defects.   

Coal pollution in areas like Shanxi Province is of particular concern, since studies show that children born in areas with significant air pollution are more likely to be of low birth weight.  Other birth defects, including cleft palates are also common birth defects in China. 

While providing care to the women who might be more likely to have babies with birth defects is necessary, will it really solve the problem?  If the root issue for many of these birth defects is pollution, it would seem more practical to focus efforts on air or water pollution.

In other cases, education could go a long way in terms of instructing women about proper nutrition or health care, but the new plan to decrease birth defects could also have some unwanted results as well, like a greater number of forced abortions. 

Since many Chinese families only can have one child, should they learn that their child could be at risk for having even a minor defect, they might be pressured to terminate the pregnancy in order to try again for another. 

It's also possible that the recent rise in babies born with defects could be as much the result of parents keeping and getting medical care for their babies with defects, rather than letting them go undetected, or worse.

Preserving the environment and providing education and resources to reduce the incidences of birth defects are both noble goals, but hopefully they won't also come with other unintended consequences.