Introduction:

congenital defects in Cuba are the second cause of death in children under one year of age that is why they occupy a priority place in the social medical programs of the country.

Objective:

to evaluate the epidemiological manifestation of the prenatal diagnosis of congenital defects in Holguín, Cuba.

Methods:

a descriptive and cross-sectional study of the epidemiology of birth defects was carried out in Holguín province, Cuba from January 2011 to June 2020.

Results:

the years with the highest number of diagnosed birth defects were 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018 with 308, 253, 290 and 236 patients, respectively. The most frequent birth defects were cardiovascular (ventricular septal defect, atrioventricular canal, transposition of the great vessels and hypoplasia of cavities), renal (pyelokaliectasia, hydronephrosis and polycystic kidneys), and central nervous system (ventriculomegaly and hydrocephalus). The maternal age group in which the highest number of diagnoses was made was between 20-24 years, mostly in the second trimester of pregnancy; the largest number of congenital defects in the first trimester corresponded to anterior wall defects. The infant mortality rate due to congenital defects remained stable in most of the years studied.

Conclusions:

the stability and improvement of the prenatal diagnosis program for congenital defects, as well as an adequate genetic counseling, have had a favourable epidemiological result in the province.