NCARDRS Congenital Anomaly Official Statistics Report, 2021

The timing of first detection of a baby with a congenital anomaly was known for 13,968 (99.2%) babies in 2021 (Figure 5; Data table 4). Where the timing of detection was known, 8,866 (62.9%) babies with a congenital anomaly were identified antenatally. Of these, 5,017 (56.6%) were born alive, 190 (2.1%) were stillborn, 64 (0.7%) were a late miscarriage and 3,595 (40.5%) resulted in a termination (Data table 4). Where a congenital anomaly was first detected in a baby postnatally, 4,990 (97.8%) were detected following a live birth.

Figure 5 (Data table 4) shows that in just over half (5,017, 50.1%) of babies with a congenital anomaly that were born alive and where the timing of detection was known, an anomaly was detected antenatally. This may be an over-estimate as anomalies diagnosed postnatally are more difficult to ascertain and may be identified later. Where a baby was stillborn with a congenital anomaly, an anomaly had been detected antenatally in 190 (79.2%) cases.

In Figure 5, and Data table 4, if more than one congenital anomaly was identified in a baby, the timing of detection refers to the first anomaly detected.         

Figure 5: Timing of detection of a baby with any anomaly and pregnancy outcome (percentage) in England and the Crown Dependencies, 2021