Introduction: Worldwide, the incidence of congenital anomalies is estimated at 3–7%, but actual numbers vary widely between countries. There is a paucity of Indian literature on birth defects. Aims and objectives: (1) To Study the Proportion of birth defects in live births in a tertiary care teaching hospital in rural central India. (2) To followup these birth defects for a period of 2 months and to study the outcome. Materials and methods: In this prospective observational study every live birth was screened by clinical examination and further relevant investigations. Study subjects were all live births in the calendar year 2015. Telephonic follow-up was undertaken at 2 months of age. Results: A total of 4493 neonates were born, out of which 127 babies had birth defects. The total number of individual birth defects was 153 (3.4%). The most common system involved was cardiovascular system. Conclusion: Early detection is essential for proper management of these defects and offers the best chance for survival. Followup of babies’ birth defects is highly recommended. Standard guidelines advocacy and policies at national level are needed. In resource-limited setting the novel way of telephonic follow-up is highly beneficial and economical.

Keywords: Newborns; Birth defects; Babies; India; Neonates.