Characteristics of children born with congenital malformations in Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil, 2002-2011

Objective: to describe the characteristics of children born with congenital malformations in Sao Luis-MA, Brazil, between 2002-2011. Methods: a descriptive study using data from the Live Birth Information System. Results: 875 (0.49%) of the 180,298 live births in the period had some type of malformation, mostly in the musculoskeletal system. The main findings were: mothers in the 20-34 age group (71.6%), single mothers (62.5%), mothers with 8-11 years of education (58.7%), only one pregnancy (97.9%) and cesarean delivery (54.8%). Newborns were mostly term (83.7%), normal weight (76.4%), male (54.9%) and satisfactory Apgar scores at the 1st (71.3%) and 5th minute (88.9%). Conclusion: congenital malformations continue to be a public health problem. In this study it was observed that during the study period there was an increase in reported case frequency. However, we suggest further studies be conducted to clarify whether the notification system improved or there was an increase in cases.