birth defects

[bettica]

My grandson was born with no fingers in his right hand.  My daughter swears she did not smoke, drink or do drugs during her pregnancy.  What would cause such a deformaty on the baby?  He was also born 5 weeks early and weighs 3 1/2 pounds.  He has little stubs where there should be fingers.  The nurses say it could either get strong or simply fall off.  Is this true?  What can be done for him?

[lucky mom of 2]

I am not familiar with this type of deformity however I do hope you are supporting your daughter through this time instead of trying to find blame with her. There are many deformities that have no known cause especially in relation to anything the mother did. Good Luck.

[AnnieBrooke]

I hope you are dropping the word "deformity" from your vocabulary and going with "a problem" or "an issue" instead, so your daughter and your grandchild will never hear it from you.  If your grandson is not commiserated with and sentimentalized over, but instead just treated like the normal boy he is, life will be easier for him.  The fingers form rather early in pregnancy, and their loss could very well be just a chromosomal mis-cue. If it was something your daughter did, such as ingest some kind of toxin, it would stand to reason that he wouldn't have fingers on his left hand either.  I'm afraid you will just have to write it up to one of those mysteries and let it go, and be there for your beloved daughter and beloved grandson.

[JDLAWSON]

I have heard that it can be fa form a genetics--that stems from the previous generation--it have been dormant in your daughter and just produced for her son.  Just treat him like any grandchild that you love.  Every baby is special and needs love no matter what.