CREDIT: Shutterstock Can fracking operations cause health problems or birth defects in babies who are born near wells? Preliminary scientific research says that it might and that more research needs to be done as oil and gas production booms across the country. According to a report in Bloomberg News, scientists are calling for more research into how the process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, impacts the environment, and how those impacts interact with genetics in unborn children living near wells.