Birth Defects

The Florida Birth Defects Registry was established in 1999 as a passive statewide population-based birth defects surveillance system to protect and promote the health of people in Florida by detecting, investigating, and preventing birth defects. 

• Every 4.5 minutes, a baby is born with a birth defect. Major birth defects are conditions present at birth that cause structural changes in one or more parts of the body. They can have a serious, adverse effect on health, development, or functional ability. 
• In the U.S., one in 33 babies is born with a birth defect affecting about 120,000 babies each year.
• A woman can take steps to increase her own chance of having a baby with the best health possible. Not all birth defects can be prevented.
• Birth defects are one of the leading causes of death in children less than one year of age - causing one in every five deaths.
• Effects of birth defects can range from mild to severe.
• Causes of most birth defects are unknown.

More children and youth born with a disability are living longer with improved medical treatments enabling the management of long-term health problems.

A lifecourse approach allows planning across the lifespan to explore determinants of health and provide individuals, their families, and communities with guidelines to eliminate many of the barriers facing people with disabilities today.

Data and Research

The Florida Birth Defects Registrycase criteria include:

• Mother is a Florida resident
• Infant is diagnosed, in the first year of life, with one or more structural, genetic, or other specified birth outcome that can adversely affect an infant's health and development, primarily ICD9-CM codes in the 740-759.9 code range
• Date of delivery is on or after January 1, 1998.

Florida Laws

The legal authority to conduct birth defects surveillance is established in section 381.0031(1,2) Florida Statutes, list of reportable disease/conditions, and is defined in 64D-3.035, Florida Administrative Code.