HC Deb 18 January 1982 vol 16 cc59-60W
Mr. Wickenden

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children in each regional health authority suffering from Down's syndrome were born in each of the last five years; and how many of these children died within 28 days of birth.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

The available information is shown in the following tables:

Number of babies notified at birth with Down's syndrome by regional health authority, 1976–80
Area of Notification 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Northern 21 25 21 24 30
Yorkshire 31 26 30 30 41
Trent 50 33 44 42 49
East Anglian 8 14 5 20 18
North West Thames 23 22 38 34 42
North East Thames 34 40 32 30 32
South East Thames 26 38 32 24 29
South West Thames 21 19 33 29 28
Wessex 18 24 17 29 26
Oxford 32 15 23 25 21
South Western 18 29 33 37 26
West Midlands 49 70 57 51 66
Mersey 15 18 31 23 13
North Western 26 32 27 30 33
Wales 27 20 21 35 27
England and Wales 399 425 444 463 481

Figures 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 since many are not diagnosed until after the first week of life.

Deaths within 28 days of birth from Down's Syndrome
Regional Health Authority 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Northern 3 1 1 2
Yorkshire 1 1 1
Trent 1 2 2 4 2
East Anglian 1 1
North West Thames 1 1 2
North East Thames 2
South East Thames 1 1 1 1
South West Thames 2 1

Regional Health Authority 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Wessex 1 3
Oxford 2 2
South Western 3 3
West Midlands 3 3 2 1 2
Mersey 1 1
North Western 1 1 1
Wales 1 2
England and Wales 14 14 9 20 12

The figures are the numbers of deaths registered with Down's syndrome as underlying cause and do not include deaths of Down's syndrome babies from other causes. There is no link between the notification of congenital anomalies and death registration and it should not be assumed that all these deaths have been notified as having Down's syndrome.