article_snippet.sent: Anencephaly occurs between the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy.
article_snippet.sent: During that time, the neural tube is supposed to close and fold over to form the brain and spinal cord of the fetus.
article_snippet.sent: This process fails to occur in anencephalic pregnancies, resulting in the absence of a large portion of the brain, skull and scalp.
article_snippet.sent: Babies born with anencephaly are usually blind, deaf, unconcious and unable to feel pain.
article_snippet.sent: Babies born with anencephaly are usually stillborn but in rare cases Babies born with anencephaly may survive longer.
article_snippet.sent: The rate of anencephaly is one or two per 10,000 births.
highlights_snippet.sent: It is a birth defect in which babies are born without parts of babies brain and skull - many newborns with the condition die soon after birth .
  