Why are some children born with congenital heart defects?

Many parents feel responsible after finding out their child has a heart defect. Cardiothoracic surgeon Emile Bacha, MD, explains why moms and dads aren't to blame for congenital heart defects.

Transcript

00:00

There is no known cause for congenital heart defects or for the genetic background of congenital heart defects.

00:09

We don't really know which genes have been switched on or off that cause congenital heart defect. There's a lot of research ongoing.

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00:22

That's a question I get a lot by anxious parents who are typically expecting and know that their unborn child has

00:29

a congenital heart defect from an echocardiogram that was obtained during a routine pregnancy examination.

00:37

It's very worrisome to them, of course, a lot of anxiety and a lot of guilt. What I typically say to them is simply, you have been unlucky.

00:49

There's no known cause for congenital heart defects or for the genetic background of congenital heart defects.

00:58

We don't really know which genes have been switched on or off that cause congenital heart defect. There's a lot of research ongoing.

01:04

And it's not the glass of wine that you've had during your pregnancy, it's not the cigarette you've had during pregnancy--

01:11

although you should not smoke, again. But it is not really these factors that, you know, some woman may have had a glass of wine before even knowing she

01:20

was pregnant. And so it's not that. It is, again, an unknown factor. And it's just, as I said, bad luck.

01:27

The chances of having a child with congenital heart disease are about 1%. [AUDIO LOGO]