Almost 1 in 3 babies who dies has serious structural birth defects, the leading cause of infant death in California and the US. Our data show:

	16% of stillborn babies have birth defects.
	31% of liveborn children who die by age 1 have birth defects—conditions which may contribute to mortality from other causes, such as low birthweight/preterm birth.
	Nearly 1 in 10 babies with birth defects will die. A baby with birth defects is 16 times more likely to die than a non-malformed infant.

BIRTH DEFECTS RAISE RISK IN ALL GROUPS

	Birth defects are a significant cause of infant death in all races. Although infant mortality varies by race/ethnicity, deaths among infants with birth defects are similar in all groups.
	Birth defects contribute substantially to deaths in babies of all birthweights and gestational ages, including those under 1500 grams.

BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH WILL SAVE LIVES

Medical advances in this century have dramatically reduced the infant mortality rate. Now birth defects loom as the number one cause of infant death. Until we focus on preventing birth defects—by finding causes and eliminating them—we cannot defeat infant mortality.