Can Bulimia While Pregnant Cause Spina bifida or Hydrocephalus?
Sunday, December 27th, 2009 at
8:07 am
Samantha H asked:
A family member had her baby almost two months ago and he was born with a hole in his back. They’ve now realized he has Hydrocephalus. Assuming it was caused by the Spinabifida. She has been bulimic for a while so.. we’re curious whether it was a cause or played a part in this. There is no family history of Spinabifida or Hydrocephalus.
A family member had her baby almost two months ago and he was born with a hole in his back. They’ve now realized he has Hydrocephalus. Assuming it was caused by the Spinabifida. She has been bulimic for a while so.. we’re curious whether it was a cause or played a part in this. There is no family history of Spinabifida or Hydrocephalus.
Tagged with: Bulimia • Hydrocephalus • Pregnant
Filed under: Eating Disorders
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I am no expert but I know that when babies are being formed in the womb they need a lot of nutrition and that nutrition has to be given through his/her mom, so if she was not eating correctly and throwing up on top of that, this baby could easily have been undernourished in the first few months which are the most important in development of brain, spine and organs. So yes, I do believe it could have been possible, but as I said this is just my personal opinion based on what I have read about nutrition and formation of the fetus.
Many times spina bifida and abnormalities in brain development are related to inadequate folic acid intake, particularly early in pregnancy. If she was vomiting a lot she could have been depleting her folic acid and it could be related to the spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
It is hard to tell if the bulimia caused the conditions. Spina bifida is what is called a neural tube defect and occurs in the first few weeks of pregnancy for unknown reasons. That is why it is so important for women considering getting pregnant to take vitamins with folic acid. It is proven to reduce the chance of neural tube defects, and those first few weeks of pregnancy is when the folic acid is most effective. Once you find out you’re pregnant it’s often too late. Good luck to your family member.