According to information released by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), when this condition is detected early in pregnancy or during the first stages of life, it increases the possibility of providing better genetic counseling to the couple and providing timely specialized care to children.

Likewise, MINSAP noted that updated technology helps to increase the rates of prenatal and postnatal diagnosis.

Although they cannot be prevented, to reduce the risk of having a child with a congenital heart disease, MINSAP recommended the consumption of 1-mg folic acid at least three months before conception and avoiding pregnancies in adolescence or after 35 years of age.

It also suggested that pregnant women do not drink alcoholic beverages, smoke or consume any other type of drugs and to consume a healthy and balanced diet.

Cardiovascular malformations are among the most frequent congenital defects, the source pointed out.

In the world, around eight out of every 1,000 children born alive suffer from this ailment, MINSAP said

The most complex congenital heart diseases usually have serious repercussions with fatal consequences in the pediatric age and represent the first cause of infant mortality due to congenital defects, he added.

MINSAP said that in Cuba, around 50 percent of children who die every year from this cause have a cardiac anomaly.

jg/etc/rgh/ifs