The Active Malformations Surveillance Program, Boston in 1972-2012: Methodology and demographic characteristics.

The surveillance of a large consecutive population of newborn infants, stillbirths, and aborted fetuses can identify with high reliability all infants with one or more malformations. This process of ascertainment of affected newborns can be used to improve genetic counseling, identify "new" phenotypes, and serve as a system for testing new technologies to establish more causes of congenital malformations.