It occurs when the spine fails to close properly during the first month of pregnancy. Thanks to improved medical and surgical care, most children born with spina bifida survive, although they may experience varying degrees of paralysis, loss of sensation in the lower limbs, difficulties with bowel and bladder management, hydrocephalus, learning disabilities and latex allergies. The challenges brought about by spina bifida continue throughout life with impact on education, labor, justice, health and human services and family life. To live independent and fulfilling lives, people born with spina bifida may need extensive medical, psychological and educational therapy. Anencephaly, another type of neural tube defect, results from the failure of the neural tube to close properly at the upper end, causing a fatal condition in which most of the brain is absent.
Infants born with anencephaly usually die at birth or within the first days after birth.
All women capable of becoming pregnant are at risk of having a child born with spina bifida. Ninety-five percent of neural tube defects occur in women with no history of neural tube affected pregnancies. A woman who has already had a baby born with spina bifida or anencephaly is more likely to have another affected pregnancy. Timing is important. NTD's occur early in pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant.