677 CONGENITALLY MALFORMED INFANTS AND ASSOCIATED GESTATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The obstetric records of all mothers who gave birth to congenitally malformed infants live or stillborn in the Boston Lying-in Hospital during the years 1930 through 1941, together with the pediatric records of their live babies during the neonatal period, have been abstracted and analyzed. Statistical evaluation of data from such a source offers a means to study the etiology of congenital anomalies; and many factors have been found to be associated with pregnancies which result in the birth of defective infants. The statistical method presents several difficulties, however, and it must be used with careful regard for proper sampling and controls, if fallacious conclusions are to be avoided. It is suggested that in future studies from large maternity hospitals analysis of all neonatal deaths and stillbirths be made in conjunction with analysis of defective infants. Such analysis of current records both of malformed and of normal infants should serve eventually to clarify the relations between the factors and to indicate which are the causes and which the effects.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: