Sandy Springs Camp LeJeune Birth Defects Lawyer

Common Causes of Birth Defects

Most birth defects occur within the first trimester of pregnancy, because this is when all the baby’s organs begin to form. Of course, certain birth defects can occur at any stage in pregnancy.

Medical professionals don’t always know what causes birth defects. Fetal alcohol syndrome is an easy one – it is caused by excessive alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Meanwhile, Down Syndrome boils down to a cell division error called “nondisjunction,” which results in an embryo that has three sets of chromosome 21 instead of just two.

As for the majority of other birth defects, medical professionals suspect they’re caused by a combination of many factors, such as specific parental genes, maternal habits and behaviors during pregnancy, and environmental factors. However, doctors are not clear on how these factors interact with each other and lead to serious birth defects.

The following factors can lead to an increased risk of birth defects:

• Taking certain medications during pregnancy, such as the acne medication called isotretinoin.
• Smoking or drinking during pregnancy.
• Having certain medical conditions (especially those unmanaged or untreated), such as gestational diabetes or obesity.
• Contracting certain viruses or infections during pregnancy, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) or Zika virus.
• Having a fever higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit during pregnancy due to excessive heat exposure or illness.
• Being pregnant over the age of 35 years old.
• Having a family member with a birth defect.
• Exposure to toxic substances or products during pregnancy.

The Connection Between Contaminated Camp LeJeune Water and Birth Defects

It’s no surprise that pregnant women exposed to unsafe levels of volatile organic compounds through drinking water at Camp LeJeune caused a variety of birth defects in their children.

In fact, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) studied pregnant mothers of nearly 12,600 children between the years of 1999 and 2002 to potentially link prenatal exposure to Camp LeJeune’s water to a higher rate of birth defects. In order to participate in this study, the mothers had to have lived on Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base at some point during their pregnancies, and the children had to have been born between 1968 and 1985. ATSDR focused specifically on neural tube defects (such as spina bifida and anencephaly), oral clefts (such as cleft palate and cleft lip), and childhood cancers (such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia).

Of these survey participants –

• 35 had neural tube defects,
• 24 had oral clefts,
• And 29 had childhood cancers.

Of these, the CDC was only able to confirm 15 neural tube defects, 24 oral clefts, and 13 childhood cancers.

However, the CDC has also estimated that between 8,000 to 10,000 Camp LeJeune babies born since the 1980s have been born with serious birth defects. A 2021 article from North Carolina Health News even states that there is a cemetery called “Baby Heaven” at Camp LeJeune. It is filled with newborn babies who passed away due to leukemia, cranial defects, severe cleft palates, and spines protruding out of their backs. These babies did not make it past the first few weeks or months of life due to the severity of their birth defects and childhood cancers. The ones who have survived utero exposure to Camp LeJeune contaminated water likely live with debilitating health conditions and disabilities.