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Cerebral Palsy And Perinatal Mortality

Volume 958: debated on Tuesday 21 November 1978

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asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the incidence of cerebral palsy amongst new-born babies; and what changes there have been in this figure over the past 20 years.

Information on the incidence of cerebral palsy among the newborn is not available centrally. The condition is not normally observable at birth and is not notified as a congenital malformation.The estimated numbers of discharges —including deaths—from hospital of in- fants under 1 year with cerebral spastic infantile paralysis, based on a one in 10 sample of all discharges from NHS hospitals in England and Wales from 1962 to 1975—the latest year for which information is available—are:

196290
1963210
196490
1965100
1966100
1967130
1968190
1969130
1970120
1971120
1972110
1973110
1974140
1975110
It should be noted that the number of discharges does not necessarily mean the number of persons discharged, since readmissions are not identified; also that since the figures above are all based on small numbers of sample cases they are subject to a high degree of uncertainty.