Spina Bifida, a Birth Defect

Spina Bifida comes from the word for “split spine in Latin (Webster, 1997). It is a serious birth defect that occurs when the tissue surrounding the developing spinal cord of a fetus doesn 't close properly. Its part of a group of birth defects called neural tube defects (Spinal Bifida Association of America, 2006). The neural tube is the embryonic structure that eventually develops into the baby 's brain and spinal cord and the tissues that enclose them. In normal circumstances, the neural tube forms in the developing baby early in the pregnancy and closes by the 26th day after conception (Spinal Bifida Association of America, 2006). Later, the top of this tube becomes the baby 's brain, and the remainder of the tube becomes the baby 's spinal cord. In babies with spina bifida, a portion of the neural tube fails to develop or close properly, causing defects in the spinal cord and in the bones that make up the backbone (Gilman & Newman, 1996). This can also occur in the middle or upper end of the spine but is most common in the lower spine. Professor Nicholas Tulp gave spina bifida its name and gave the first formative description of the disability. Although the term and real medical description are somewhat recent, it is estimated that spina bifida occurred almost 12,000 years ago.
Types of Spina Bifida There are three types of spina bifida: spina bifida occulta, meningocele, and myelomeningocele:
Spina bifida occulta
Spina bifida occulta is the mildest and most common form of this disorder. It usually only involves a minor fault with one or two of the vertebrae and it usually shows no symptoms nor requires treatment. When an infant is born with spina bifida occulta, the skin is normal and covers the deformity of the spine. Spina bifida occulta literally means "a hidden spot on the spine," and for most people, this spot will remain hidden. It has been estimated that approximately 10 percent of the American population has spina bifida

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