(Des Moines – Radio Iowa) About five-percent of all Iowans are born with the condition called spina bifida, a congenital disorder where there’s incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord. October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month. Carlyn Crowe, executive director of the Spina Bifida Association of Iowa, says they hope to educate people about the condition, while also raising funding.

“It’s the most common, permanently-disabling birth defect in the United States and what’s so striking about that is that a lot of people don’t know about it.”  In addition to education, Crowe says the mission of the organization is to help families with infants who are impacted by this birth defect. “We raise money to help those families get to those medical appointments and to have equipment and medical supplies that they may not be able to get otherwise,” she says.

Crowe says it’s not clear exactly what causes spina bifida, but it’s believed to be due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Learn more at: www.sbaofia.org