{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T04:51:44Z","timestamp":1782449504853,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"African Journals Online (AJOL)","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["gmj"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: To determine the birth prevalence, trend, and characteristics of external structural birth defects occurrence in Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria.Design: Cross-sectional study involving review of delivery records.Setting: The study was conducted at three tertiary hospitals, one public and two missionary, in Enugu Metropolis.Participants: Mothers and their babies delivered between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2016 in the study facilities.Main outcome measures: Birth prevalence of defects presented as frequency\/10,000 births. Other descriptive variables are presented as frequencies and percentages.Results: There were 21530 births with 133 birth defects (birth prevalence: 61.8\/10,000 births) and 1176 stillbirths (stillbirth rate: 54.6\/1000 births). The frequencies and birth prevalence (\/10,000 births) of recorded defects were: Limb deformities 60(27.9), Neural tube defects (NTDs): 36(16.7), Urogenital system defects: 12(5.6), Gastrointestinal system defects 10(4.6) and Orofacial clefts 4(1.9). Birth defects occurrence showed a rising trend from 2009 to 2016. The mean (SD) age of mothers whose babies had Birth defects was 29.1(4.7) years. Only 62(46.6%) of 133 antenatal clinic folders of these women were traceable for further review. Eighteen (29.0%) had febrile illness in early pregnancy, 9(14.5%) had Malaria, 17(27.4%) had &lt;4 antenatal clinic attendance, 7(11.3%) did not take folic acid and 6(9.7%) took herbal medications during pregnancy.Conclusions: Birth defects occurrence showed a rising trend with limb deformities and NTDs having the highest prevalence. Record keeping was poor at the facilities. Birth defects preventive interventions like folic acid supplementation for women-of-childbearing age should be promoted in Enugu Metropolis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4314\/gmj.v56i4.5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,14]],"date-time":"2022-12-14T12:19:06Z","timestamp":1671020346000},"page":"268-275","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Descriptive epidemiology of external structural birth defects in Enugu State, Nigeria"],"prefix":"10.4314","volume":"56","author":[{"given":"Izuchukwu","family":"F. Obi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ugochukwu","family":"U. Nwokoye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Okechukwu","family":"P. Ossai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"I. Nwafor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patrick","family":"Nguku","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2895","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]]},"container-title":["Ghana Medical Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajol.info\/index.php\/gmj\/article\/download\/237619\/224538","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajol.info\/index.php\/gmj\/article\/download\/237619\/224538","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,14]],"date-time":"2022-12-14T12:19:20Z","timestamp":1671020360000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajol.info\/index.php\/gmj\/article\/view\/237619"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,6]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4314\/gmj.v56i4.5","relation":{},"ISSN":["0016-9560"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0016-9560","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]]}}}