HC Deb 07 May 1987 vol 115 cc504-5W
Mr. Archer

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many and what proportion of babies in England and Wales were born with spina bifida for each year since 1978, broken down in terms of live and still births.

Mrs. Currie: The information is given in the table.

Notifications of births with spina bifida, England and Wales 1978–86
Births
Live Still
Year Notifications All live births 1Rate Notifications All still births 2Rate
1978 665 596,418 11.15 176 5,108 344.56
1979 677 638,028 10.61 166 5,125 323.90
1980 600 656,234 9.14 153 4,773 320.55
1981 530 634,492 8.35 124 4,207 294.75
1982 420 625,931 6.71 88 3,939 223.41
1983 369 629,134 5.87 49 3,631 134.95
1984 314 636,818 4.93 61 3,643 167.44
1985 325 656,417 4.95 35 3,645 96.02
19863 236 662,200 3.56 19 3,555 53.45
1 Rate per 10,000 live births.
2 Rate per 10,000 still births.
3 Provisional.

Note: Figues are derived from a voluntary system of notifying congenital malformations observed at birth or up to seven days after birth and are therefore an incomplete measure of the total number of affected infants.