The epidemiology of birth defects

Abstract

The surgical correction of birth defects helped create the speciality of paediatric surgery during the middle of the last century. Around this time, pioneering neonatal operations were successfully performed to allow survival of babies with conditions like oesophageal atresia or congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Indeed, along with innovations such as parenteral nutrition, the concentration of surgical, anaesthetic, nursing and critical care expertise now allows high survival rates to be achieved for many previously fatal anomalies. For certain conditions that have high mortality and morbidity, fetal surgery aims to further reduce the harm of birth defects. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.