ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2019
A hospital-based birth defects surveillance system in Kampala, Uganda.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Optimal Strategies for Screening Common Birth Defects in Children of Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.Neonatology · 2025Pooled it
- Congenital anomalies and risk factors in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ paediatrics open · 2023Pooled it
- Birth prevalence of neural tube defects in eastern Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Magnitude and determinants of neural tube defect in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- Persistent umbilical discharge beyond the neonatal period due to patent urachus in an infant managed in a resource-limited setting: a case report.International journal of surgery case reports · 2026Article
- Investigating the Role of Cytomegalovirus as a Cause of Stillbirths and Child Deaths in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Through Postmortem Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Prevalence of major structural congenital abnormalities detected on infant surface examination in Botswana, 2014-2022: a birth outcomes surveillance study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- The prevalence of neural tube defects in eastern Ethiopia: A population-based surveillance.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- The burden of neural tube defects in Southern Ethiopia: trends, hotspots, and public health implications.PeerJ · 2026Article
- Registries and surveillance models used to screen neonates for congenital anomalies in LMIC settings: a scoping review.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Anterior abdominal wall agenesis associated with cardiac exstrophy and macrocephaly in a gold mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: management and prognosis in a resource-limited area.Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology · 2025Article
- Cohort profile: measuring adverse pregnancy and newborn congenital outcomes (MANGO) study in Kenya.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Risk of Adverse Birth Outcomes and Birth Defects Among Women Living With HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy and HIV-Negative Women in Uganda, 2015-2021.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2025Article
- Prevalence, trends, and maternal risk factors of adverse birth outcomes from a hospital-based birth defects surveillance system in Kampala, Uganda, 2015-2022.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Delays in Care for Children With Low Anorectal Malformations in Southwestern Uganda.The Journal of surgical research · 2025Article
- Prevalence and death rate of birth defects from population-based surveillance in Hunan Province, China, 2010-2020.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Coverage of Child Disability Detection, Management, and Rehabilitation Health Services in Central Uganda.The East African health research journal · 2024Article
- Chromosomal Abnormalities Detected by Chromosomal Microarray Analysis and Karyotype in Fetuses with Ultrasound Abnormalities.International journal of general medicine · 2024Article
- Update from a cohort study for birth defects in Hunan Province, China, 2010-2020.Scientific reports · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn 2010, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution calling upon countries to prevent birth defects where possible. Though birth defects surveillance programs are an important source of information to guide implementation and evaluation of preventive interventions, many countries that shoulder the largest burden of birth defects do not have surveillance programs. This paper shares the results of a hospital-based birth defects surveillance program in Uganda which, can be adopted by similar resource-limited countries.
methodsAll informative births, including live births, stillbirths and spontaneous abortions; regardless of gestational age, delivered at four selected hospitals in Kampala from August 2015 to December 2017 were examined for birth defects. Demographic data were obtained by midwives through maternal interviews and review of hospital patient notes and entered in an electronic data collection tool. Identified birth defects were confirmed through bedside examination by a physician and review of photographs and a narrative description by a birth defects expert. Informative births (live, still and spontaneous abortions) with a confirmed birth defect were included in the numerator, while the total informative births (live, still and spontaneous abortions) were included in the denominator to estimate the prevalence of birth defects per 10,000 births.
resultsThe overall prevalence of birth defects was 66.2/10,000 births (95% CI 60.5-72.5). The most prevalent birth defects (per 10,000 births) were: Hypospadias, 23.4/10,000 (95% CI 18.9-28.9); Talipes equinovarus, 14.0/10,000 (95% CI 11.5-17.1) and Neural tube defects, 10.3/10,000 (95% CI 8.2-13.0). The least prevalent were: Microcephaly, 1.6/10,000 (95% CI 0.9-2.8); Microtia and Anotia, 1.6/10,000 (95% CI 0.9-2.8) and Imperforate anus, 2.0/10,000 (95% CI 1.2-3.4).
conclusionA hospital-based surveillance project with active case ascertainment can generate reliable epidemiologic data about birth defects prevalence and can inform prevention policies and service provision needs in low and middle-income countries.
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