STM Article Repository

Background: A growing body of data suggests that birth defect is a significant contributor to infant and neonatal mortality because most of these will die early. Although individually rare, birth defect taken together accounts for a significant proportion of mortality and morbidity among infants and children. This is most apparent in populations where infections and malnutrition have been controlled. This study is designed to study the pattern of birth defect amongst neonates seen at Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH).

Methods: This was a descriptive retrospective study. The data was collected from admission register in NBSCU, delivery record in labour room and the central medical records of IMSUTH. Data were represented in frequency tables and bar charts. Yates corrected Chi Square was used to calculate for significance.

Results: The prevalence of birth defect amongst newborns seen at IMSUTH was 5.10% with congenital anomalies of the Gastrointestinal tract observed to be the commonest followed by those of the Central nervous system. Maternal education w/as observed to have significant relationship between occurrence of birth defect and maternal native medication intake during pregnancy.

Conclusion: Five out of every 100 pregnancy in these environments may end with the birth of a child with congenital defect especially with women who took native medication during pregnancy and those with low educational status who may likely have taken native medication during antenatal care supervised by the traditional birth attendants (TBA).