As we rediscover each year during our Children's Hospital fund-raising campaign, children can be threatened by many birth defects. My associate, Siobhan Gorman, has the story of a toddler who might have died if Children's hadn't corrected his inability to swallow.

Jacob Eisenstat sat in his highchair with his bright yellow bib tied around his neck, eagerly awaiting breakfast. As he pounded his fists on the toy-cluttered tray in front of him, his mother, Diana, fed him pureed apricot and oatmeal mush.

Jacob is 11 months old. Most children his age would be well into the solid-food ...

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