What causes gastroschisis?

Largely uknown: The cause of gastroschisis is not known, but there are certain statistical associations such as younger maternal age, alcohol consumption or smoking during pregnancy, & certain medications or infections. For more information go to the birth defects homepage of the cdc at: www.Cdc.Gov/ncbddd/birthdefects and select specific birth defects in the left column; scroll down to "gastroschisis".

We don't know: We know that gastroschisis is more common in young mothers, and in mothers who smoke cigarettes. We also know that the rate of gastroschisis in babies is rising in many places , possibly related to exposure to chemicals in the environment, but there is a lot we don't know about why it happens.

Unknown: The cause of gastroschisis is not known.