HUMANE CHARITY SPOTLIGHT

Birth Defect Research for Children: Working for America’s Mothers and Newborns

Birth defects affect one in every 33 infants in the United States, accounting for more than 20 percent of infant deaths. January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month, but many humane health charities work year round to help mothers and newborns. The Florida-based nonprofit Birth Defect Research for Children (BDRC) is at the forefront of birth defect research, dedicated to providing information to parents and expectant parents and to investigating the causes of birth defects.

BDRC was founded in 1982 by Betty and Mike Mekdeci, who were appalled at the lack of birth defect information they found after their son was born with malformed and missing fingers and a missing pectoral muscle. Since its inception, BDRC has been a pioneer of groundbreaking advocacy and research, making significant progress in the battle against birth defects.

To spread information about birth defects, BDRC provides fact sheets about prevention and different types of birth defects to parents and expectant parents. The charity offers a “parent matching” service that connects parents of children with similar birth defects to form support networks. BDRC also helps affected families find local birth defect support organizations and national resources.

BDRC realizes that the best approach to eradicating birth defects is to look at human data, and the organization’s National Birth Defect Registry has been an invaluable resource for birth defect researchers. This registry compiles data on all categories of both physical and developmental birth defects and data on parents’ histories. Data collected in this registry is evaluated to find clusters of birth defects that may be associated with similar prenatal factors. Data reviews are used for community advocacy and have been presented to congressional committees, national media forums, the National Academy of Sciences, and federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health.

For more information about Birth Defect Research for Children, please visit www.BirthDefects.org.

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