The incidence of obvious congenital abnormalities among the neonates born in Rasht hospitals in 2011

Background: Congenital abnormalities are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. This study was conducted to determine the incidence of obvious congenital abnormalities in live neonates and the relationship between these abnormalities and some important factors in live newborns in Rasht hospitals.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all live neonates born in maternity hospitals of Rasht were investigated for the presence of apparent congenital abnormalities. The data recorded in the patients’ files, including the information of parents, neonate and the type of abnormality were collected. Data were analyzed by SPSS (version 16).

Results: From 1824 live neonates, 77 cases (4.2%) had congenital abnormalities. The most common diagnosed abnormalities were musculoskeletal (37.7%), genital (16.9%), urinary (13%), cardiovascular (13%), and nervous system (10.4%) anomalies. The increased incidence of congenital abnormalities was correlated with gestational age, route of pregnancy, history of maternal disease and drug consumption during pregnancy (P<0.0001). No significant relationship was found between abnormalities and sex, birth weight, age of parents, and consanguineous marriage.

Conclusion: As gestational age, route of pregnancy, history of maternal disease and drug consumption during pregnancy were significantly associated with the increased incidence of congenital abnormalities in this region, it is necessary to pay more attention to the risk factors and the approach to control them.