{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T13:44:09Z","timestamp":1788356649546,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]],"date-time":"2021-08-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1627948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Congenital disorders (CDs), defined as abnormalities in structure or function present at birth, are an important contributor to the disease burden in developing countries. The size and extent of the problem in South Africa (SA) are unknown due to the lack of recent, reliable, observed data on CDs. To address this empirical data gap, this study aimed to measure the birth prevalence of congenital anomalies (a sub-set of CDs) and to describe the pattern of these anomalies at a regional hospital in KwaZulu Natal (KZN), SA. A retrospective, observational, descriptive review of congenital anomalies diagnosed within the neonatal service at Edendale Hospital (EDH), KZN was undertaken between January and December 2018. All EDH in-house live births diagnosed and notified with congenital anomalies by discharge were included. Stillbirths, other pregnancy losses and out-born neonates were excluded. Data were actively collected from the birth register, neonatal admission register, and the individual paper-based surveillance tool developed by the National Department of Health. The in-facility birth prevalence rate for congenital anomalies was 15.57 per 1 000 live births. The most observed system was musculoskeletal (32%) followed by circulatory system anomalies (19%). When the observed birth prevalence rates of key congenital anomalies were compared with previously published, modelled South African data, no significant difference was found. This study responds to the paucity of birth prevalence data on CDs overall and offers evidence that obvious, structural CDs (congenital anomalies) need to be addressed in the SA public health system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255456","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]],"date-time":"2021-08-03T17:23:41Z","timestamp":1628011421000},"page":"e0255456","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Observed birth prevalence of congenital anomalies among live births at a regional facility in KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3909-4510","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Muhammad Zubayr","family":"Saib","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1545-3080","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Barnesh Lalloo","family":"Dhada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7199-9160","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Colleen","family":"Aldous","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9566-6248","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Helen Louise","family":"Malherbe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0255456.ref001","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Management of Birth Defects and Haemoglobin Disorders. Report of a Joint who-March of Dimes Meeting. Geneva, Switzerland, 17\u201319 May 2006. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2006."},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref002","volume-title":"Coovadia\u2019s Paediatrics and child health: a manual for health professionals in developing countries","author":"D Wittenburg","year":"2009","edition":"6"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref003","author":"B Modell","year":"2016","journal-title":"Epidemiological methods in community genetics and the Modell Global Database of Congenital Disorders (MGDb)"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref004","unstructured":"Sixty-Third World Health Assembly\u2014Resolution 63.17. Birth Defects, 2014 (2010)."},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref005","unstructured":"United Nations. Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Wellbeing for All and at All Ages [13 January 2016]. http:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/health\/."},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-017-0335-3","article-title":"An overview of concepts and approaches used in estimating the burden of congenital disorders globally","volume":"9","author":"S Moorthie","year":"2018a","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"341","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-018-0382-4","article-title":"Historical overview of development in methods to estimate burden of disease due to congenital disorders","volume":"9","author":"B Modell","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref008","author":"EI Krzesinski","year":"2019","journal-title":"Neural tube defect diagnosis and outcomes at a tertiary South African hospital with intensive case ascertainment"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref009","volume-title":"March of Dimes: Global Report on Birth Defects, the Hidden Toll of Dying and Disabled Children","author":"A Christianson","year":"2006"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-018-0367-3","article-title":"EUROCAT: an update on its functions and activities","volume":"9","author":"FD Tucker","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-018-0390-4","article-title":"Congenital disorders: epidemiological methods for answering calls for action","volume":"9","author":"B Modell","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0255456.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.9136","article-title":"Need for services for the care and prevention of congenital disorders in South Africa as the country\u2019s epidemiological transition evolves","volume":"105","author":"HL Malherbe","year":"2015","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref013","volume-title":"Policy Guidelines for the Management and Prevention of Genetic Disorders, Birth defects and Disabilities","author":"Department of Health","year":"2001"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref014","volume-title":"National Guidelines for the Care and Prevention of the Most Common Genetic Disorders, Birth Defects and Disabilities","author":"Department of Health","year":"2004"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0255456.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"992","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2016.v106i10.11314","article-title":"South African congenital disorders data, 2006\u20132014","volume":"106","author":"L Lebese","year":"2016","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0255456.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2017.v108i3b.12779","article-title":"Child mortality in South Africa: Fewer deaths, but better data are needed","volume":"108","author":"L Bamford","year":"2018","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0255456.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2017.v108i3b.12804","article-title":"Reducing neonatal deaths in South Africa: Progress and challenges","volume":"108","author":"N Rhoda","year":"2018","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0255456.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2018.v108i7.13393","article-title":"Contribution congenital disorders to neonatal mortality in South Africa","volume":"108","author":"HL Malherbe","year":"2018","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref019","volume-title":"International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. 10th revision","author":"World Health Organization","year":"1992"},{"issue":"49","key":"pone.0255456.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6015","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2016.03.047","article-title":"Congenital anomalies: Case definition and guidelines for data collection, analysis, and presentation of immunization safety data","volume":"34","author":"M DeSilva","year":"2016","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0255456.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"357","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-021-00513-8","article-title":"Modelled epidemiological data for selected congenital disorders in South Africa","volume":"12","author":"H Malherbe","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Com Gen"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref022","author":"H Sahai","year":"1995","journal-title":"Statistics in epidemiology: methods, techniques and applications"},{"issue":"46","key":"pone.0255456.ref023","first-page":"1853","article-title":"Congenital musculoskeletal malformation in South African Blacks: a study of incidence","volume":"50","author":"H Pompe van Meerdervoort","year":"1976","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"17","key":"pone.0255456.ref024","first-page":"599","article-title":"Common birth defects in South African blacks","volume":"62","author":"J Kromberg","year":"1982","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0255456.ref025","first-page":"11","article-title":"Congenital anomalies in black South African liveborn neonates at an urban academic hospital","volume":"85","author":"S Delport","year":"1995","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0255456.ref026","first-page":"15","article-title":"Congenital anomalies in rural black South African neonates\u2014a silent epidemic?","volume":"85","author":"P Venter","year":"1995","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref027","article-title":"G03 Incidence and consequences of congenital abnormalities among hospital born infants in Entebbe, Uganda","volume":"90","author":"C Tann","year":"2005","journal-title":"Arch Dis Child"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.2147\/IJWH.S108905","article-title":"Prevalence and pattern of birth defects in a tertiary health facility in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria","volume":"9","author":"M Abbey","year":"2017","journal-title":"International journal of women\u2019s health"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1002\/bdra.20442","article-title":"Decline in the prevalence of neural tube defects following folic acid fortification and its cost-benefit in South Africa","volume":"82","author":"AR Sayed","year":"2008","journal-title":"Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref030","unstructured":"Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 1972. Regulations Relating to the Fortification of Certain Foodstuffs, (2003)."},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0255456.ref031","first-page":"928","article-title":"Neural tube defects and folic acid-a South African perspective","volume":"87","author":"H-L Robertson","year":"1997","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0255456.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/57.1.47","article-title":"Vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, and folate nutritional status in men with hyperhomocysteinemia","volume":"57","author":"JB Ubbink","year":"1993","journal-title":"The American journal of clinical nutrition"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref033","first-page":"992","article-title":"Down syndrome in Black South African infants and children-clinical features and delayed diagnosis","volume":"87","author":"AL Christianson","year":"1997","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0255456.ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"626","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2016.v106i6.10105","article-title":"Delay and poor diagnosis of Down syndrome in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A retrospective review of postnatal cytogenetic testing","volume":"106","author":"M Willoughby","year":"2016","journal-title":"S Afr Med J"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-018-0359-3","article-title":"Methods to estimate access to care and the effect of interventions on the outcomes of congenital disorders","volume":"9","author":"H Blencowe","year":"2018a","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"387","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-018-0384-2","article-title":"Estimating the birth prevalence and pregnancy outcomes of congenital malformations worldwide","volume":"9","author":"S Moorthie","year":"2018b","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0255456.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-017-0336-2","article-title":"Chromosomal disorders: estimating baseline birth prevalence and pregnancy outcomes worldwide","volume":"9","author":"S Moorthie","year":"2018c","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0255456.ref038","first-page":"300","article-title":"Genetics knowledge of advanced midwifery learners: Educators\u2019 perceptions","volume":"1","author":"M Phaladi-Digamela","year":"2014","journal-title":"African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref039","volume-title":"An Assessment of the Genetic Knowledge of Final Year Diploma Nursing Students","author":"M Glass","year":"2004"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref040","unstructured":"Secretary\u2019s Advisory Committee on Genetics Health and Society. Genetics education and training. Report of the Secretary\u2019s Advisory Committee on Genetics Health, and Society: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2011 [cited 2016 20 April]. http:\/\/osp.od.nih.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/SACGHS_education_report_2011.pdf."},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref041","first-page":"137","volume-title":"South African Health Review 2017","author":"H Malherbe","year":"2016","edition":"19"},{"key":"pone.0255456.ref042","unstructured":"Department of Health. Strategic Framework for the Modernisation of Tertiary Hospital Services Pretoria: Department of Health; 2003."}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0255456","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]],"date-time":"2021-08-03T17:24:09Z","timestamp":1628011449000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0255456"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"JJ","family":"Cray","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]]},"references-count":42,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0255456","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,3]]}}}