How to Use birth defect in a Sentence

birth defect

noun
Definition of birth defectnext
  • The cub was born with a birth defect in one of her eyes.
    — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 Oct. 2020
  • Clark was born with a rare birth defect and has no legs.
    — Petra Cahill, NBC News, 30 Aug. 2019
  • One in 700 children are born with the birth defect each year.
    — Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 15 Nov. 2021
  • In 2017, Eric had a blood clot in his chest that was caused by a rare birth defect.
    — Marie Milano, Country Living, 9 Nov. 2019
  • Due to a birth defect, her front paws were upside down.
    — Alaa Elassar, CNN, 12 Sep. 2021
  • But to put it in context, around 1 in 33 babies are born with a birth defect each year, per the CDC.
    — Addison Aloian, Women's Health, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Among causes of deaths, birth defects showed a 23% increase, compared to a decrease of about 3% in the rest of the U.S.
    — CBS News, 24 June 2024
  • That includes low birth weight, preterm birth and a host of other birth defects.
    — Carol Motsinger, Cincinnati.com, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Quite a bit more troublesome is that isotretinoin is linked to birth defects.
    — Sarah Klein, Health.com, 28 Feb. 2018
  • He was born with two fingers on his left hand because of a birth defect.
    — Dan Labbe, cleveland, 20 Nov. 2019
  • There’s a spectrum, because it’s not just one type of birth defect.
    — Yvonne Villarrealstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2022
  • Part of the treatment is five years of tamoxifen, which can cause birth defects.
    — Julie Ma, The Cut, 26 Oct. 2017
  • His lab uses mice, too, in this case to study the mechanism that causes the birth defect.
    — Kirsi Goldynia, CNN, 31 Mar. 2020
  • Zika, for which there is no vaccine, can cause birth defects, fever, rash and headaches.
    — Sean Rossman, USA TODAY, 2 May 2018
  • Born with a rare birth defect, his legs were amputated above the knee at age 2.
    — Janet Shamlian, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2019
  • The drug caused serious birth defects and was withdrawn in 1961.
    — Adam Feuerstein and Matthew Herper, STAT, 31 July 2023
  • The illness is the most common birth defect, and can make blood move too slowly or in the wrong direction.
    — Leslie Nemo, Discover Magazine, 3 Oct. 2019
  • Beyond genetics, the disorder can be the result of a birth defect that affects the spinal cord or the bones of the spine.
    — Mayo Clinic News Network, chicagotribune.com, 4 Dec. 2019
  • That’s because heat stress in the first trimester, such as from saunas and hot tubs, has been linked with birth defects of the brain, nervous system or spinal cord.
    — Melinda Wenner Moyer, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2020
  • The drug may cause birth defects, so it should not be taken by anyone who is pregnant, Yang said.
    — Alyssa Hui, Verywell Health, 5 Dec. 2023
  • But other deaths, such as those caused by disease or birth defects, rose 8%.
    — Byerik Stokstad, science.org, 5 Sep. 2024
  • Were the birth defects just never noticed before, or did the virus somehow change?
    — Maggie Fox, NBC News, 28 Sep. 2017
  • These drugs pose a risk to your baby in the form of birth defects and damage to internal organs—but the risk is highest in the first trimester.
    — Sarah Bradley, Parents, 22 July 2024
  • The birth defect has no treatment and results in death either before birth or within the first few weeks of life.
    — Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2023
  • Two of her friends bolted, leaving her alone with a cousin who has trouble walking due to a birth defect.
    — David Rising and, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Dec. 2021
  • Most birth defects occur in the first trimester of pregnancy, when the organs are forming, the CDC stated.
    — Minali Nigam, CNN, 19 June 2019
  • More children ages 1 to 4 die from drowning than from any other cause of death, with the exception of birth defects.
    — Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE.com, 17 Oct. 2019
  • He was born with a rare birth defect called an omphalocele, which means some of his organs sit in a sac outside his body.
    — Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2023
  • Residents claim the waste has led to high rates of cancer, other diseases and birth defects.
    — Sara Aridi, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Because if any child was conceived on a Monday evening, the beginning of Tuesday would be considered unlucky, and the baby would likely have birth defects.
    — Kaity Kline, NPR, 13 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'birth defect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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