Birth defects recognized in 10,000 babies born consecutively in Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea

A daily record was made of defects recognizable at birth or soon afterwards in 10,000 babies born consecutively at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea, between January 1985 and May 1986. The overall prevalence of birth defects in this series was 1.16%. All of the affected babies were singletons, 27% presented with multiple defects, and 14% were stillborn. There was a predominance of male babies in the series as a whole and more particularly in the group of affected babies (female:male ratios 1:1.15 and 1:1.50 respectively). The parts of the body most commonly affected were the limbs, head and neck, and central nervous system. The majority of the mothers originated from provinces neighbouring Port Moresby, although all the provinces were represented. Defects were more common in babies of mothers from island provinces (1.9%) than from highland (1.1%) or coastal/lowland (1.0%) provinces. The mean birthweight for all the babies in the series for whom records were available was 3.03 kg (SD 0.57), and for the abnormal babies 2.86 kg (SD 0.70). The highest mean birthweight was recorded for babies of highland mothers and the lowest for babies of coastal/lowland mothers.