Maternal and perinatal aspects of birth defects: a case-control study

Objective: To assess the prevalence of congenital defects and to investigate their maternal and perinatal associated aspects by reviewing Birth Certificates.Methods:Among all born alive infants from January 2003 to December 2007 in Maternidade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia of São Carlos, Southeast Brazil (12,199 infants), cases were identified as the newborns whose Birth Certificates registered any congenital defect. The same sex neonate born immediately after the case was chosen as a control. In total, 13 variables were analyzed: six were maternal related, three represented labor and delivery conditions and four were linked to fetal status. The chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the variables, being significant p