Anencephaly is a fetal defect, in which the baby lacks a brain, cap, cerebellum and meninges, which are very important structures in the central nervous system, which can cause the baby to die shortly after birth. birth and in some rare cases after some of the hours or months of life.
Anencephaly is a serious disorder that can be caused by several factors, including the genetic burden, environment and malnutrition of women during pregnancy, but lack of folic acid during pregnancy is its most common cause.
- This fetal malformation occurs between 23 and 28 days gestation due to a poorly closed neural tube and therefore.
- In some cases.
- In addition to anencephaly.
- The fetus may have another neural alteration called spina bifida.
Anencephaly can be diagnosed during prenatal care by ultrasound or by measuring alpha-fetoprotein in maternal serum or amniotic fluid after 13 weeks of gestation.
There is no cure for anencephaly or any treatment that can be done to try to save the baby’s life.
Therefore, if parents want to anticipate delivery, a detailed ultrasound of the fetus from week 12 will be required, with 3 photos of the fetus detailing the skull and signed by two different doctors. From the date of approval of anencephalic decriminalization. abortion, it is no longer necessary to have a judicial authorization to perform the abortion, as has already happened in previous cases.
In the case of anencephaly, the baby at birth will not see, hear or feel anything and the likelihood of dying shortly after birth is very high; However, if it survives within a few hours of birth, it can be an organ donor if the parents show this interest during pregnancy.