Cause of neonatal deaths in Northern Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundDespite the significant reduction in childhood mortality, neonatal mortality has shown little or no concomitant decline worldwide. The dilemma arises in that the lack of documentation of cause of death in developing countries, where registration of vital events is virtually nonexistent. Understanding of the causes of death in neonates is important to guide public health interventions. The present study identifies the common causes of neonatal death in Ethiopia.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted among neonates born between April 2014 and July 2014 in seven hospitals, in Tigray region, Ethiopia. Mothers were interviewed by midwifes respecting risk factors and infant survival. For neonates who died in hospital, causes of death were extracted from medical records, whereas a verbal autopsy method provided presumptive assignment of cause of death for those infants who died at home.ResultsOf the1152 live births, there were 68 deaths (63 per 1000 live births). Two thirds of deaths were attributable to prematurity 23 (34%) or asphyxia 21 (31%). Slight variance was seen between the morality patterns in early and late neonatal periods. In the early neonatal period, 37% were due to prematurity, while asphyxia (35%) was more common in the late neonatal period. All infection-related deaths occurred in neonate-mother dyads from rural areas.ConclusionPrematurity, asphyxia, and infections were the leading causes of neonatal deaths in Tigray region during the study period. Causes of deaths identified during early and late neonatal mortality differed, which clearly indicates the need for responsive and evidence-based interventions and policies.

Cause and predictors of neonatal mortality among neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units of public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia: a facility-based prospective follow-up study

“…Birth asphyxia, preterm, low birth weight, and failure to initiate early feeding were significant factors that increased the likelihood of neonatal deaths. These findings are consistent with previous studies in Ethiopia and other countries, in which intrapartum and neonatal conditions were found to be important predictors of neonatal mortality [21,25,28,[30][31][32][33]. Preterm and low birth weight babies were more likely to be prone to complications such as hypothermia, infections, and birth asphyxia (resulting in tissue hypoxia and multi-organ failure).…”

Prevalence of Birth Asphyxia and Associated Factors among Neonates Delivered in Dilchora Referral Hospital, in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia

“…In our study 27 (11%) Neonates were died due to birth asphyxia after resuscitation which is similar with study done in six sub-Saharan Africa [59] but lower than study done in Tigray 31% [60] and in Jimma 23.2% [61] of Ethiopia and in Tanzania dar es salaam 62.5% [33] And in Nagaur, India (39%) [62] and 26% in Iran [57]. But higher than study done in IRAN (3.1%) [63].…”

When Do Newborns Die? Timing and Cause-Specific Neonatal Death in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Referral Hospital in Gedeo Zone: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…A structured and interview-administered questionnaire adopted from previous research [22] and WHO questionnaires [31] were used to prospectively collect the data. The mothers of index neonates were interviewed in addition to the data collected from the clinical chart.…”

“…In other evidence from Africa, Asia [18], India [19,20], and Ethiopia [21], prematurity, neonatal infections, and birth asphyxia were the main causes of deaths. The causes of neonatal death vary among different socioeconomic strata and geographic regions in Ethiopia [22][23][24][25].…”