§ Mr. Michael Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish figures to show the trend in recent years of the number of children born suffering from spina bifida.
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§ Sir George YoungThe numbers of live and stillborn babies with spina bifida notified in England and Wales in the years 1974 to 1978 were as follows:
ALL BABIES Year Number Rate per 10,000 total births 1974 1,185 18.31 1975 1,101 18.06 1976 880 14.92 1977 881 15.33 1978 841 13.98
LIVE BORN ONLY Year Number Rate per 10,000 live births 1974 713* 11.14 1975 837 13.87 1976 678 11.60 1977 688 12.09 1978 665 11.15 Notes: 1. The figures relate to babies with spina bifida with or without other reported malformations. 2. The notification of congenital malformations recognised at birth is carried out on a voluntary basis. The numbers of cases may therefore be under-reported. * Estimated figure.