Women in reproductive ages who desire to have strong and healthy babies should eat good and balanced diets since some babies born with malformations and defects are caused by nutritional factors, Dr Mrs Gykoua Plange Rhule, Paediatric Consultant at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has advised.

She said although birth defects in babies could also be genetic, it is just expedient for prospective mothers to eat well to meet all their nutritional requirements even before they get pregnant.

This, she said, was important since unborn babies start developing some of their organ systems such as the brain even before the woman realises she is pregnant.

The Paediatric Consultant said the use of unprescribed drugs, alcohol, bleaching creams high in steroids, and enema with strong herbal concoctions, as well as stressful conditions could also negatively affect the formation of unborn babies in the womb.

She warned pregnant women who bleach to become "as white as snow" to steer clear from the practice since they will be harming their unborn babies.

Giving a few examples of such defects, she said certain babies are born without limbs, others as siamese twins; others are born with malformations in the spine while others are born with cleft palates.

She said Dwarfism (midgets) and mongols are some other defects.

Mrs Plange Rhule said whiles spinal defida is caused by folic acid deficiency in pregnant mothers, cleft plates are caused by both genetic factors and the use of bleaching creams.

She, however, called on the parents who incidentally have already given birth to some of these babies with defects not to abandon or "see them off" as certain cultural practices demand but to bring them to the hospital both for advice and treatment since most of the defects could be treated or corrected.