THURSDAY, June 7, 2007 (HealthDay News) -- Would-be parents can take four key steps to reduce the risk of having a baby with a heart defect, according to experts at the American Heart Association (AHA).
The group released the following guidelines in a new scientific statement:
The statement was prepared by the AHA's Congential Cardiac Defects Committee of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, which reviewed current information in medical/scientific literature. The article appears in the journal Circulation.
"This statement highlights the need to think about prevention of heart defects in babies before conception and very early in pregnancy," senior author Dr. Catherine L. Webb, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said in a prepared statement.
"Paying attention to parental lifestyle issues and the association with congenital heart disease is a good start. However, congenital heart disease may still occur in children despite excellent prenatal care and the very best efforts on the parents' part. It is very important to continue to learn much more about prevention of congenital heart disease through ongoing research studies," said Webb, who is also a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about congenital heart defects.