Neonatal mortality patterns in an urban hospital.

ABSTRACT

Neonatal mortality rate is perhaps the most reliable indicator of the perinatal outcome. An assessment of perinatal outcome can be made through knowledge of causes of death. This study was carried out to evaluate the neonatal deaths in our hospital. Live births (n = 7309) and deaths (n = 328) during a 6 months period were retrospectively analyzed. These were grouped into non-preventable and potentially preventable causes of death. The single most important factor contributing to the mortality was respiratory distress (29.3%) followed by sepsis (24.4%) and birth asphyxia (16.2%). The non-preventable causes of mortality (e.g., lethal congenital malformations, extremely low birth weight) accounted for 10.4% of the total mortality. The idealized neonatal mortality rate was 4.6/1000 live births, while the salvageable death rate was 40.2/1000 live births. The mortality increased significantly if the birth weight fell below 2 kg. The salvageable deaths could perhaps be prevented through better antenatal and intranatal care, ventilatory support and prevention of sepsis.

ABSTRACT

PIP Neonatal mortality rate is perhaps the most reliable indicator of perinatal outcome. An assessment of perinatal outcome can be made through knowledge of causes of death. This study was undertaken to evaluate the neonatal deaths in the Neonatal Division, Lady Hardinge Medical College. Livebirths (n=7309) and deaths (n=328) during a 6-month period were retrospectively analyzed. These were grouped into nonpreventable and potentially preventable causes of death. The single most important factor contributing to mortality was respiratory distress (29.3%), followed by sepsis (24.4%), and birth asphyxia (16.2%). The nonpreventable causes of mortality (e.g., lethal congenital malformations, extremely low birthweight) accounted for 10.4% of the total mortality. The idealized neonatal mortality rate was 4.6/1000 livebirths, while the salvageable death rate was 40.2/1000 livebirths. Mortality increased significantly if the birthweight fell below 2 kg. The salvageable deaths could perhaps be prevented through better antenatal and intranatal care, ventilatory support, and sepsis prevention.