Show May Treat Birth Defects ill in Womb Marela of Leaders Are Told Ibid Progress daring 1966 in ind d and ami treating the them m medical problems of babies b before fole the they are even born Lorn raised doctors hopes for the prevention of many birth d defects in the future The womb is not the safe secure lecure haven havn psychiatrists ts would have us ua believe says SI Dr Jerold Lucey associate professor of oC ut at the university of Vermont College of Medicine Dr Luce Lucey in re le search progress to n a recent melt fag ing of National March of Dimes volunteer r leaders in the fight against birth defects said ObViously hazar hazards s exist with with- within in the womb otherwise womb otherwise we i would not have babies i born with birth defects each in the United States I It Is a 11 myth that we cannot I study babies still in the womb I be says It is possible and in- in indeed indeed deed is ahead already bring being done in some lome medical centers to ding diagnose nose and treat some conditions of unborn babies This can be bedone bedone done without prohibitive risks to either eitler mother or ch child Dr Lucey who specializes In logy fett the study of th the unborn infant believes that Increasing research uch will reveal many now unknown facts about what Is normal and what is abnormal In Inthe inthe the environment of a baby dur- dur during during ing the tho nine months before birth Detection of some birth defects In the early months or of pre pregnancy nancy was described to Much March or of Dimes volunteers by Dr M Neil Mac Mac- Macintyre intyre associate professor of anatomy at Western Reserve University School of Medicine Cleveland Ohio lIe said doctors now able to test a mothers mother's amniotic fluid the liquid con twined in the tho culled called bag of Wates surrounding the th unborn baby In In this fluid are cells shed by byth th fetus From cell cultures can study the infants infant's the chromosomes tiny bundles of f hereditary material in the cells of nil all living things When n abnormalities are Bre detected In the chromo chromosomes lome diagnosis of certain certaro taro tain detects defects such as mongolism is possible However this technique Is not yet entirely safe and should be wed used only under special circumstances Dr pointed po out Such Sucha a circumstance mIght be when a family history rOUseS arouses suspicion of a hereditary condition p I III II 1 1 1 1 sy A L vb I r 4 b I I N fu Q M Y 1 r rs t pt 1 t r rk k rots a au u n Using a enlargement point out chromosomal irregularities which are often associated with serious birth defects The accompanying story tells how this procedure can be used to detect some birth defects in early months of pregnancy As an example of successful ful treatment of a condition known before birth Dr Lucey cited techniques which arc saving Ving many Rh Hh babies babie Rh Hh blood In- In Incompatibility in compatibility between mother and child can cause a form of anemia which may be fatal or 01 can cause enuse serious ous mental or physical defects A few years ago ngo more than 2000 babies babics were lost annually because or of orun ofen un en Rh Hh condition Today when Rh Hh problems are detected before births birth doctors doctor can often give lve saving life blood transfusions directly to the fetus through the mothers mother's abdomen Dr Lucey estimates that ap ap- ap proximately pr 30 to 50 per cent of the tho Infants infanta who would have died because us of this one condi condi- tien can now be saved Physicians believe that the time will caine come when those Practicing fetal medicine will be able to treat irn many 1 y other I dangerous tI af conditions n In t the near future l a d doctor r may y for example ci give e an unborn baby digitalis to strengthen a weak heartbeat at When it Is discovered that un an unborn ba baby y has an infection it may be po possible sible to Identify the cause caulle and tJ treat at it are already seriously studying the potentials of fetal surgery I whereby specialists operate te di- di directly di on the unborn child to toI I correct a serious condition then return ratum it t to the womb to await natural birth This has been done successfully with animals for several years In many ways the problems of birth defects have been likened to the problems of penetrating outer space What seemed way out 10 years ago now seems very possible within the next decade Through research such liS as that supported by TIle The Na- Na National National Foundation March of Dimes scientists feel it may be pos possible to solve many problems of birth defects which now strike shik one American baby in 16 H |