CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS AND BIRTH INJURIES IN NEW YORK CITY

Abstract

1. In 1951, a total of 1,501 children was reported to have been born alive with one or more congenital malformations, an over-all reported incidence of 9.2 per 1,000 live births. a. Two-thirds of the babies were delivered by a private physician in a hospital, and one-third on a ward service in a hospital. The incidence in the two groups and in white and nonwhite babies was approximately the same. However, the incidence in babies weighing less than 2,500 gm. was twice that in those babies weighing more. b. Club foot, dactylism, cleft palate and/or harelip, and hypospadias were the most frequent types of congenital malformations reported, accounting for 78% of the total. c. There were 128 babies reported with cleft palate and/or harelip, an over-all incidence of 0.79 per 1,000 live births. d. The effect on neonatal mortality is presented. 2. In 195 1 a total of 377 children was reported to have been born alive with one or more birth injuries, an over-all reported incidence of 2.3 per 1,000 live births. One half were reported with severe birth injury. The reported incidence was the same regardless of type of patient (private or ward service), color, or birth weight. 3. The 1951 data for New York City are compared with similar data for upstate New York for 1940-1942. The over-all incidence in reported congenital malformations in the two groups is similar, although some differences occurred in the frequency of individual malformations. The over-all incidence of reported birth injury in upstate New York was more than three times that in New York City; the incidence of each type of birth injury was higher in the upstate group. 4. The use of such data in planning services for these children in a community is discussed.