"Did I somehow cause my baby's deafness?"

One of my daughters has just given birth to a beautiful baby boy. A "hearing-challenged" boy. A deaf boy. For this reason (and my research abilities) I present to you material regarding why a child might have congenital deafness.

About half of congenitally deaf babies have genetic causes. There are too many genetic diseases in this category to list.(1) They are nobody's "fault". The other half are caused by either:

# malformation of the ear canal, or middle ear
# prenatal infection, illnesses
# toxemia during pregnancy
# maternal diabetes
# prematurity (2)

Considering the above list, which factors could a pregnant mother control? I see that perhaps only prenatal infections or illnesses could POSSIBLY be under the mother's control, depending on the illness. So this we will explore.

In my daughter's case, the placenta barrier was breached, so the developing baby was vulnerable to any infections or toxins in my daughter's blood. Common infections such as cytomegalovirus can cause congenital deafness.(3) So can rubella. But how about alcohol, food or drugs?

Drugs can cross the placenta and adversely affect the developing child. These drugs are called teratogens. There is a long list of substances that are known or suspected to be teratogens, including legal drugs (alcohol, nicotine, caffeine), prescription drugs(some antibiotics, hormones, steroids, anticoagulants, anticonvulsants, tranquilizers, methadone), illegal drugs, and environmental pollutants like lead.(4) However, this list includes teratogens that cause many congenital defects, not just hearing loss.

From my research I can see that if my daughter did not use drugs except as prescribed, and generally took care of herself during pregnancy, nobody can affirm that "something she did" directly caused congenital deafness. Perhaps there were environmental factors or toxins that crossed the placental barrier which were the direct cause, or perhaps infections, etc., but putting her at fault? Come 'on.


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(1) About.com
(2) Wyomingehdi.org
(3) www.american pregnancy.org
(4) www.ahedegypt.org