Congenital malformations in the newborn in Northland: 1966-1977.
A survey of all hospital births in the Northland region of New Zealand during 1966-1977 has been carried out. There were 23 591 births during this period, of which 374 had significant malformations diagnosed in hospital. There were 243 stillbirths, 148 neonatal deaths; 334 infants with diagnosed malformations survived to discharge. Rates of stillbirth, neonatal death and malformation were higher amongst Maoris than amongst non-Maoris. The commoner malformations (with incidence rates per thousand births) were: talipes (5.2), spina bifida, congenital heart defects, cleft lip and/or cleft palate (1.5), and anencephalus (1.0). Anencephalus was commoner amongst females than males; talipes and isolated cleft palate were commoner amongst Maoris, anencephalus and spina bifida amongst non-Maoris. There is some evidence that whereas the rate of stillbirth has declined over the period, the rate of neonatal death has risen.
D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D011247:Pregnancy