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- A baby with a birth defect is born in the United States every three and half minutes.
- In Texas, more than 14,000 babies are born each year with one or more major structural malformations.
- Birth defects account for approximately one in four infant deaths in Texas and are a major cause of childhood illness and disability.
- According to the Texas Birth Defects Registry, the average cost in the western region of the U.S. for one hospital stay due to congenital anomalies is $40,777.
- The first step in preventing birth defects is to identify their causes. Approximately 10% of all birth defects are attributed to environmental causes, and 20% are caused by single gene or chromosomal disorders. However, the causes are unknown for the remainder, 70%.
After a cluster of babies was born with anencephaly in South Texas, the March of Dimes worked to help pass the Texas Birth Defects Act of 1993 which established the Texas Birth Defects, Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch (BDES) within the Texas Department of State Health Services. The Texas Birth Defects Registry is a key component of the BDES Branch.
The Texas Birth Defects Registry exists to identify and describe patterns of birth defects in Texas and collaborate with others in finding causes of birth defects, working towards prevention, and linking families with services. Because of this work, we understand more each day about environmental, genetic, dietary, and other risks that cause some babies to be born with birth defects.
Between 1998 and 2005, the annual number of live births in Texas increased from 342,199 to approximately 394,000, a 15% increase. It is projected that within five years this number will have increased to 411,730. However, funding for the Registry during this time did not increase at all, jeopardizing maintenance of stable surveillance efforts in all regions of the state.
A stable, statewide registry attracts Federal funds for birth defects research. Texas receives federal funding of almost a million dollars each year to conduct research into preventable causes of birth defects. Texas is one of only 9 states to receive this funding, in part because of our strong state-supported birth defects registry. Additional strain on existing Registry resources may jeopardize the agency’s ability to receive this funding in the future.
The March of Dimes continues to advocate for increased funding for the Texas Birth Defects Registry and for related prevention initiatives.
For more information on March of Dimes advocacy efforts, please contact Morgan Walthall, State Director of Public Affairs, at mwalthall@marchofdimes.com or (512) 477-3221.
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