Congenital rubella syndrome or German measles have been long known to cause autism in children if the pregnant mother catches the virus. With rubella, a mother’s immune response is activated which puts the baby at higher risk of contracting the disorder.

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Prenatal viral infection of any kind is known as the principal reason for causing autism in babies/children. And infections in pregnancy are some of the most known causes that affect the neurological development.

A number of times it is more a genetic predisposition that causes autism than other factors. However, genes are not to be entirely blamed for it. There is a combination of factors at play here.

In 15% cases, they say, genetic are known as one among other causes of autism in children. And honestly, you can’t do much about it if it is in the genes.

A number of other reasons that increase the risk of autism in babies is the age of mother and father when they are trying to conceive, extreme premature birth of the baby, a lot of difficulties during child birth, when the birth weight of the baby is very low etc…

It is to be noted, again, that such factors are accompanied by a combination of other extreme factors that lead to autism.

It is always advised to pregnant mothers to be happy. One part of the reason is that prenatal stress can induce a number of causes of worry in the fetus.

As part of the gene-environment interaction, prenatal stress has been found to be one of the causes of autism.

What can you do to avoid the chances of autism in your baby?

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The first thing you can do is limit your exposure to air pollution. Air pollution has to be one of the most under-rated environmental associations with autism. A study conducted by researchers on relation between autism and air-pollution found that women who were exposed to air pollution in their third trimester had double the risk.

The more exposure to toxic chemicals you have in your pregnancy, the higher are the chances of your baby being autistic.

A lot of metals, pesticides and phthalates have been found in higher quantities in traffic-related pollution, leading to a higher level of risk to pregnant women.

So try to avoid going at a time you know there’s going to be a lot of traffic-related air pollution.

Only recently it has been found out in a number of studies that a woman who takes a gap of 2 to 5 years between two of her pregnancies is at the lowest risk of her child developing autism.

So if you do plan to have another child, space out your pregnancy in a way that there is at least a 2 year gap between the two pregnancies.

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A lot of times we think that our mothers and grandmothers did just fine without certain tests and medications during pregnancies and we are also better off without them. But trust us, we are not.

It is imperative that you take your folic acid supplementation, Vitamin D, calcium etc… whatever your doctor advises you in a timely manner in order to avoid the risk of developing autism in your baby.

It is true that you can’t do much about the genetic causes of autism, but you can do everything you possibly can to avoid it coming from environmental factors. After all, it is a matter of child’s entire life