From Public Health Scotland today, on babies with a serious congenital condition.

You can see the figures begin to climb as the Tory austerity policies began to kick in.

In 2015, the Scottish Government announced a plan for government with the following statement:

We will create a fairer country. We will promote a proper living wage, fair work and use new powers to improve the welfare system, mitigating some of the worst impacts of the UK Government’s cuts.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/programme-government-2015-16/

In 2019 alone, £100 million was been spent to mitigate the effects of UK Government austerity.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

We are spending more than £100 million each year to mitigate the worst effects of UK government austerity – part of the £1.4 billion we spent last year to support low income households.

https://www.gov.scot/news/mitigating-uk-government-welfare-cuts/

How might the above have helped to reduce birth congenital conditions?

From the WHO:

Low-income may be an indirect determinant of birth defects, with a higher frequency among resource-constrained families and countries. It is estimated that about 94% of severe birth defects occur in low- and middle-income countries. An indirect determinant, this higher risk relates to a possible lack of access to sufficient nutritious foods by pregnant women, an increased exposure to agents or factors such as infection and alcohol, or poorer access to health care and screening.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/birth-defects