About CARIS - Using CARIS data

CARIS data are used for:

Feedback to clinicians for information, audit, and research

Clinicians can thereby have a clear picture of the overall prevalence of congenital anomalies within Wales and within the local health board area. The information can identify areas for research or investigation to identify any risk factors from a maternal health, genetic or environmental standpoint.

Annual publications by CARIS

CARIS creates an annual report analysing the incidence and prevalence of congenital birth anomalies in Wales. This information is disseminated and presented to community maternal health care providers, regional antenatal centres of expertise and to training providers to highlight areas of focus within maternal health care.

Ad hoc enquiry responses by clinicians and academic institutions

CARIS data often provides the basis for clinical research projects within medical and public health environments and clinical research projects.

Formal surveillance and monitoring schemes

The purpose of health surveillance programmes is to protect the health of expectant mothers and children across Wales. We collate health information to protect public health and guide improvements or changes in maternal health care services across Wales.

International Collaboration

EUROCAT provides surveillance functions and allow comparisons to be made of rates both within Europe and wider world.

EUROCAT

EUROCAT is a European network of congenital anomalies that began in 1979. CARIS became a member in 1999. Data is transferred to EUROCAT annually. It provides software for surveillance of anomalies and for long-term trends. These results are then fed-back to the register.

Welsh data can be compared with other regions and countries of Europe by linking to the prevalence tables on the EUROCAT website.

More details of EUROCAT and the studies it supports can be found at http://www.eurocat-net.eu/

ICBDSR

ICBDSR (International Clearing House for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research) was founded in 1974 and CARIS joined as a member in 2005. As with EUROCAT, data is transmitted on an annual basis.

Welsh data can be compared to other countries of the world by downloading the latest annual report from the International Clearing House of Birth Defects, Surveillance, and research website.

The ICBDSR mission is conduct worldwide research on birth defects recorded across the globe with the aim of identifying the potential causes and defining preventative measures, thus decreasing incidence worldwide.

Page last reviewed: 16th April 2026