The Prevalence of Congenital Anomalies and Its types among Births in Kerbala City/Iraq

Abstract

Congenital anomalies are a global medical problem leading to perinatal and infant deaths or phenotypic disabilities among born children. This study was designed to explore the prevalence of congenital anomalies births and its types  in Kerbala Teaching Hospital for Maternity for a period from 2003-2018. Total numbers of births, number of births with congenital anomalies, Percentage of annual mortality rate, types of congenital anomalies were all recorded. The results indicated that the overall percentage of congenital anomalies prevalence was 0.17% as 1.73 cases per 1000 births. The percentage of male births with congenital anomalies was (56.3%) higher compared to the female births (43.7%). In addition, the overall mortality rate of those born with congenital anomalies was 1.13%.  Our results also found that congenital anomalies targeted many organs. However, defects in the central nervous system was most common among births and comprised about 23,8% of total number of recorded cases. The second system was heart anomalies in which it comprised about 19,13%. Births with defects in the respiratory system was also detected and it comprised about 13,9%. Our findings have shed the light on the prevalence of congenital anomalies and its types in the Kerbala City and expand our understanding towards the possible prevention programs can be used to minimize the occurrence of such anomalies and it also encourages the pregnant women to follow the recommended health guidelines during their pregnancy.