Determinants of birth asphyxia among newborns in Amhara national regional state referral hospitals, Ethiopia

Abstract

27Background: Globally, every year, 2.5 million infants die within their first month of life. 28Neonatal asphyxia is the leading specific cause of neonatal mortality in low-and middle-income 29 countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the determinants of 30 birth asphyxia among newborns admitted in Amhara region referral hospitals, Ethiopia. 31 Methods: Facility-based unmatched case-control study was employed among 193 cases and 193 32 controls of newborns. Newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units with admission criteria 33 of birth asphyxia and without birth asphyxia were considered as cases (Apgar score<7) and 34 controls (Apgar score>=7) respectively. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire by 35 systematic random sampling technique with proportional allocation, and entered in to Epi-Info 36 version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for statistical analysis. Bivariate and multivariable 37 logistic regression models were fitted to identify determinants of birth asphyxia.38

Determinants of Birth Asphyxia Among Newborns in Debre Berhan Referral Hospital, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia: a Case-control Study

“…Prolonged labour was signi cantly associated with birth asphyxia. This nding was consistent with studies conducted in Cameron [21], Pakistan [16], and Ethiopia [11,[24][25][26]. This could be due to primary, secondary, or tertiary dalliance.…”

“…Less than or equals to two ANC follow up by the mothers were 4.6 times higher odds of developing asphyxiated newborns than mothers who have more than four ANC follow up. This nding was inconsistent with the study conducted in Ethiopia [13,23,25]. This difference may be due to the number of health facilities included in the study and study period.…”