The beliefs of mothers in southern Brazil regarding risk-factors associated with congenital abnormalities

Abstract

We describes a study in which conventional wisdom about congenital malformations was investigated, the two main objectives being to list mothers' ideas by comparing six well-known causes of congenital abnormalities (ingestion of alcoholic beverages, smoking tobacco, drug use, marriage between relatives (consanguinity), rubella infection, maternal age) with explanations current in the general population and to discover the most common fallacies held by the general population concerning such abnormalities. The data were collected from 1 January to 31 December 1995 during a population study in which mothers were interviewed in hospitals in the city of Pelotas (population 400,000), Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. On each day of the study, the first three mothers to give birth were interviewed, resulting in 3,219 interviewed mothers out of 6,048 births. Our conclusion is that even though conventional wisdom is non-scientific it cannot be ignored because it is the source of a lot of suffering for the mother and can interfere with how she cares for her health . Although erroneous ideas about the causes of congenital abnormalities were more common among mothers from families receiving less than one minimum wage such ideas were found in all socioeconomic groups. In our discussion we emphasize that both mothers and the general public should be made aware of those risk-factors, especially maternal age and consanguinity, that really can cause congenital abnormalities.

Probability in gene expression

“…The results confirm what have been observed in other studies, 3,4 and they suggest the necessity of adopting major educational efforts at the primary healthcare level to raise awareness of the risk factors associated with mental retardation. Additionally, further research is necessary in this area, especially to determine the population's appropriate knowledge level for taking informed decision about their health, and to establish a systematic investigation to verify the risk factors prevalence, in order to initiate preventive actions toward the causes of greater impact in the reduction of mental retardation and other abnormalities.…”

Conceptions on genetics in a group of college students

“…In a Brazilian study conducted with postpartum women (Garcias and Schüler-Faccini 2004), the recognition of risk factors such as smoking, drinking, drugs, and consanguinity-all mentioned spontaneously in our groups-was associated with higher social classes, probably with more years of formal education, like our participants.…”

Teratogens: a public health issue – a Brazilian overview

“…Ancient Egypt wall paintings suggest the long time existence of congenital abnormalities, such as clubfoot and achondroplasia ( Barrow, 1971 ). Children with congenital malformations were labeled as “monsters” by the ancients ( Garcias and Schüler-Faccini, 2004 ). Other regions, such as the Americas, Australia and Pacific Islands also have early records of primitive sculptures revealing concerns with congenital anomalies, which have even inspired some mythological figures ( Barrow, 1971 ).…”