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Mr. Michael Hamilton
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish figures to show the trend in recent years of the number of children born suffering from spina bifida.
Sir George Young
The numbers of live and stillborn babies with spina bifida notified in England and Wales in the years 1974 to 1978 were as follows:
| ALL BABIES | ||
| Year | Number | Rate per 10,000 total births |
| 1974 | 1,185 | 18·31 |
| 1975 | 1,101 | 18·06 |
| 1976 | 880 | 14·92 |
| 1977 | 881 | 15·33 |
| 1978 | 841 | 13·98 |
| LIVE BORN ONLY | ||
| Year | Number | Rate per 10,000 live births |
| 1974 | 713* | 11·14 |
| 1975 | 837 | 13·87 |
| 1976 | 678 | 11·60 |
| 1977 | 688 | 12·09 |
| 1978 | 665 | 11·15 |
| Notes: | ||
| 1. The figures relate to babies with spina bifida with or without other reported malformations. | ||
| 2. The notification of congenital malformations recognised at birth is carried out on a voluntary basis. The numbers of cases may therefore be under-reported. | ||
| * Estimated figure. | ||