How Do Teratogens Cause Birth Defect

Teratogens are agents that could cause birth defects. The agents cross the placenta and could cause cognitive problems. The agents that cause the birth defects could be things exposed in the everyday life,. There are medications that can cause birth defects as well as any infectious disease. The infectious diseases can cause the loss of a pregnancy also, the infections can affect the fetus 10-14 days after conception. A teratogen can stick itself to the uterus blood supply and the fetus. Teratogens can cause problems with the closure of the neural tube, which can cause trouble throughout the whole pregnancy. I want to talk about alcohol and cigarette smoke and the dangers of doing them while pregnant. Alcohol is one of the most dangerous teratogen. Every time a pregnant woman takes a drink, so does her fetus. Alcohol and cigarette smoke are two of the worst causes for birth defects and development causes. With the alcohol it passes through the blood stream through the placenta, the alcohol breaks down slower in the baby than in us adults. The levels stay high in …show more content…
The fetus is constantly growing and developing during the whole pregnancy. During the first trimester the baby’s heart, central nervous system, eyes, arms and legs are being developed. The brain starts developing in the third week after conception. There is no amount of drinking alcohol or smoking that is considered safe to do while expecting, the more you do them the more you are putting your child at risk for long lasting problems. Binge drinking is considered to have the highest risk factors, so no amount of smoking or drinking is safe. Children are too beautiful to have to go through a lifetime of agony, all because of the things that was done during