NCARDRS Congenital Condition Official Statistics Report, 2023

Figures 1a and 1b (Data table 1a) show the prevalence, categorised by those with an identified genomic condition (dark blue) and those with no known genomic condition (light blue) in England for: 

a) all babies (total birth prevalence) 

b) those that were born alive (live birth prevalence).

In these figures, as in Data table 1a, babies with multiple conditions are counted in each applicable bar on the chart. For example, a baby with congenital heart disease, that also had limb and genomic conditions, would be represented in each of the three different bars, and in dark blue (genomic) in the bars of the respective structural condition (congenital heart disease and limb). However, a baby with two different congenital heart conditions would only appear once in that bar.  

Figure 1a and Data table 1a  show that total birth prevalence in 2023 was highest for congenital heart disease (CHD) (69.9 per 10,000 total births, 95% CI 67.8-72.2), followed by genomic conditions (68.3 per 10,000 total births, 95% CI 66.1-70.5), then by limb conditions (31.3 per 10,000 total births, 95% CI 29.8-32.8) and conditions of the kidney and urinary tract (28.3 per 10,000 total births, 95% CI 26.9-29.7).  

Figure 1b and Data table 1a  show that the prevalence for those who are born alive was highest in CHD conditions (57 per 10,000 live births, 95% CI 55.1-59.1), followed by the genomic conditions group (30.9 per 10,000 live births, 95% CI 29.4-32.3), the limb conditions group (27.3 per 10,000 live births, 95% CI 25.9-28.7) and kidney and urinary tract conditions (23.2 per 10,000 live births, 95% CI 21.9-24.5). 

The pattern for all babies diagnosed with a congenital condition, and those that are born alive, is similar for most groups apart from genomic and nervous system conditions. The total and live birth prevalence for conditions of the nervous system is, respectively 24.3 per 10,000 total births (95% CI 23.0-25.6) and 9.5 per 10,000 live births (CI 8.7-10.3). The lower live birth prevalence compared to total birth prevalence in these two condition groups reflects the severity of some of the conditions in these groups, which rarely result in a live birth.