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.