Background Birth defects are responsible for majority of morbidity in neonates and are detected antenatally or postnatally.

Aims Our aim is to review types of birth defects that have occurred over a 10-year period in an urban community hospital.

Methods Data was analysed retrospectively by reviewing documentation through EMR from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2012.

Results We analysed the incidence of congenital anomalies based on race, birth weight, and antenatal detection as shown in Table 1, taking into account the system-based occurrence for any clustering of defects. During the study period, there were 24,203 live births. 2156 infants were identified with congenital anomalies, incidence rate of 8.90%; including multiple anomalies. There were a total of 2348 anomalies, including single and multiple unrelated anomalies. 16.9% were classified as major and 83.04% as minor.

Conclusion Chromosomal and major structural anomalies were detected using prenatal testing, like amniocentesis and imaging studies. Despite preventive measures, counselling and termination of pregnancy where applicable, birth defects continue to occur. The recent Federal Policy on monitoring of infants by Pulse Oximetry prior discharge helps to detect ductal dependent cardiac defects and identify those missed by clinical examination, necessitating it as an additional tool.