**2. Background**

Multitudes of factors determine the overall quality of health and pregnancy safety and outcome in Africa.

Illiteracy and poverty are factors that directly or indirectly influence health and pregnancy outcome in Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa proportion of workers living in extreme poverty is 57% [9]. Other factors are ignorance, superstitious beliefs, bad cultural practices and poorly developed health infrastructure. The rate malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa is 23% [10]. In many countries in Africa utilization of antenatal care services is low and it is at this critical time pregnant women are screened for various diseases and ultrasound screening is done for fetal anomalies. In Nigeria only 2/3 of pregnant women attend antenatal care and only 40% deliver under the care of skilled birth attendants [10]. Utilization of the antenatal and delivery services in other African countries is much lower. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest contraceptive prevalence 13% and highest unmet need for family planning 28% [10]. Infections and infestations, lack of immunization against diseases that may be harmful to pregnancy and exposure to various potentially harmful substances increase the risk for fetal anomalies in Sub-Saharan African women. Lack of reliable data collection and recording means that the prevalence of congenital anomalies in the region is based on institutional estimates not the actual numbers. This is the background to understanding the causes, management and prevention of congenital anomalies in Africa. It is with this background in mind that this chapter will discuss the causes, management and prevention of congenital anomalies in Africa.

*Fetal Congenital Anomalies in Africa: Diagnostic and Management Challenges DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91994*
