“Every child is a god’s gift”, this is the most accepted concept for child birth in India. But not all children born will have identical characteristic features. Even identical twins born will definitely have change in behavior characteristics.
The reason for these changes in each child born is genes. Genes are the genetic material which is transmitted in family to the next generation. For example when a child is born people around try to compare the baby features to the mother and father this is due to the genes transmitted from the parents to the baby.
The main genetic material which causes the gene transmission is the chromosomes which is also a most important factor to determine the sex of the child born. Each human being has 46 chromosomes (23 pairs) in their genetic material. As there is always a deviation from normal characteristics which determine what are the normal factors. Hence due to errors during the mutation process of the genes, the 21st chromosome of the fetus will have an extra component than the normal constitution of 2 chromosomes ,which causes 3 chromosomes in the 21st pair to occur which leads to the formation of down’s syndrome disorder, which causes the child to exhibit altered features from the other children. Hence down’s syndrome is also known as trisomy. So most of the parents wonder
What is down’s syndrome? What changes it causes in the infant born?
As it’s a syndrome it has collection of symptoms, like small round face, fissures in tongue, alteration in the tooth germ development which alters the normal growth pattern of the dentition with alteration in mastication, altered mental growth of the child with low IQ, the child have changes of developing eye disorders like cataract, the face of the child altered features like flat facial features with small ears with variation in the shape, short neck ,eyes appear to slant upwards and muscle tone is altered.
Sometimes the child with down’s syndrome exhibits systematic deviation which causes dementia ,congenital heart disorder ,bone dislocation,obesity etc. Due to these dangerous deviations in the normal body composition the lifespan of these children is reduced(yet we have an example of a person with down syndrome who survived till 77years which is a normal lifespan of an healthy adult). There is no cure for down’s syndrome. But should never lose hopes in life, and build confidence in the child by providing therapy on sensory skills,social skills,motor skills,behaviour management and language classes . This makes the child with Down’s syndrome more acceptable in the society and improves their confidence in life .Hence prevention is better than cure, it’s always advisable to all pregnant women to be careful and well educated during the various trimesters of pregnancy ,to detect down’s syndrome in the fetus.
So a question might arise in most of your mind,can a woman with down syndrome give birth to a baby? The answer for it is definitely “YES”. The main factor required here is confidence and determination,they might face challenges but nothing is impossible with determination and guidance. Did you know ? children born with down syndrome have affinity to infections and get infected soon to bacteria , viruses and other pathogens. Hygiene management of the child is very important.
Will a child with down’s syndrome play actively like other kids of the same age group? Yes definitely the child will be active like other kids of the same group though they take time to grasp,as we all know though tortoise is slow finally it will win the race. Same way the child with trisomy also can go to specialised school and get their learning process.
As all the children born are god’s gift they should not be compared to each other’s capabilities , but only loved as it’s our genes transmitted to them.
Will all the parents reading this post go back and give unconditional love to their child?