Signs your child has a congenital heart defect, you need to see a doctor right away

Video content is professionally consulted by Assoc. Vu Minh Phuc, Part-time Doctor at Pediatrics - Neonatology Department, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital

Congenital heart disease in the newborn is a heart defect that occurs in the fetus. Because the heart structure is defective, the function and activity of the heart is affected, blood circulation in the body works abnormally.
According to statistics, for every 1,000 babies born, there are 8 children with congenital heart disease. If not detected and treated early, congenital heart disease in babies can cause serious health effects later, even death.
Some factors are thought to cause congenital heart disease including:
Genetics: Heredity is a factor that plays an important role in the formation of congenital heart defects in infants, especially are heart defects. Due to fetal toxicity: During pregnancy, if the mother uses certain drugs without a doctor's prescription, or uses stimulants such as alcohol, beer, or drugs, the baby is likely to be born with congenital heart defects. born. In addition, mothers exposed to X-rays, radioactive substances, ... or living in a toxic environment can also be poisoned during pregnancy, leading to congenital heart defects for the baby. Infected mothers during pregnancy: Mothers infected with Herpes, Rubella, Cytomegalo viruses, ... in the first 3 months of pregnancy will make children susceptible to malformations, especially congenital heart disease in children. Congenital heart manifestations in newborns include: Shortness of breath, tachypnea, concave breathing, little feeding, and intermittent pauses in breastfeeding. Children who are a few months old or older will have more obvious congenital heart symptoms such as: Frequent coughing, wheezing and frequent pneumonia. In addition, the baby may have some accompanying symptoms such as physical retardation, pale skin, lips and toes, purple fingers when crying. Congenital heart defects can be accompanied by diseases related to chromosomal mutations such as Down , cleft lip, missing or extra toe... These cases need special monitoring for early detection and treat congenital heart defects if any.
There are also some cases of congenital heart disease in newborns but there are no obvious symptoms and only incidentally discovered when the child is taken for a health check or other medical examination.
To detect congenital heart defects, 4D ultrasound should be performed in the second trimester of pregnancy when the gestational age is from 21 to 24 weeks. However, congenital heart diseases are complex diseases. Current prenatal ultrasound can only detect 60-80% of these pathologies. After birth, children need to be checked for health and do more screenings to avoid missing congenital heart diseases.