Incidence of neural tube defects among neonates at King Hussein Medical Centre, Jordan

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are important factors in fetal and infant mortality. There have been no studies on the incidence of NTDs in Jordan. A one-year prospective study was therefore conducted in King Hussein Medical Centre neonatal unit (April 2002–April 2003) to determine the incidence of NTDs among Jordanian neonates. All liveborn babies, both term and preterm, were assessed for NTDs. Mothers of babies with NTDs were interviewed postnatally regarding antenatal care and family history of NTDs. Of 5088 live births, 33 had NTDs, giving an incidence of 6.5/1000 live births. None of the women with affected babies had a history of NTDs and all had received antenatal care, but none had taken folate supplementation. The majority of the women had not had a diagnosis before the birth, despite having had ultrasound scans throughout their pregnancies