A Journey Through Birth Defects: From Trainee to Pediatrician’s Perspective

Many years ago, during my honorary training in neonatology, I encountered newborns with various types of birth defects, many of which I was seeing for the first time. Unfortunately, many of these babies did not survive. During this period, I became familiar with terms such as malformation, deformation, and disruption, and my curiosity about congenital anomalies grew.

At that time, I had a mobile phone with a camera whose resolution was not very good—much like my level of training at that early stage of my career. Nevertheless, I started documenting the cases I encountered. By the end of my three-month training period, I had collected enough material to prepare a presentation on the congenital anomalies I had seen during that time.

My teachers appreciated my effort to collect local data, and that moment marked the beginning of my journey into the field of birth defects.

The irony is that, many years later, the fate of many children born with birth defects remains unchanged for various reasons, including limited awareness, delayed diagnosis, and inadequate access to specialized care. It is high time that we strengthen our efforts to prevent birth defects, improve early detection, and ensure better care for affected children and their families.