Socio demographic factors affecting perinatal mortality- A study in a rural setup

Abstract

Background:-Perinatal mortality is a sensitive indicator of the quality of services provided to pregnant women and their newborn. Perinatal mortality audit in a health care facility helps to determine the important cause of perinatal deaths and take measures to reduce it. This study was carried out to find out the socio demographic causes of perinatal deaths. Material and Methods: -A clinical observational study was undertaken at a tertiary care teaching hospital in a rural area over a period of 1 year from October 2010 and September 2011. Results:-The perinatal mortality rate was found to be 17.07 per 1000 live births. Early age at pregnancy, illiteracy, rural residence and poor socioeconomic status was commonly associated with higher perinatal deaths. Other factors directly contributing to perinatal deaths were unbooked status, low and high birth order pregnancy and occupation of parents. Conclusion:-Effective measures to reduce perinatal mortality need to be started well before the birth of a child by concentrating on education status of women, improving the paying capacity of the couple by providing employment and improving health care delivery system in rural area.

A community based study of neonatal mortality in Aligarh by using verbal autopsy

“…In cohesion to other studies in India, the present study found a statistically significant difference between gender, birth order and gestational age of newborn. 10,12 The findings of this study emphasized the need for the identification of high-risk babies and early postpartum interventions. Relevant strategies include special training to birth attendants in resuscitation, immediate postnatal check-up in the home for high-risk babies identified at delivery and promotion of institutional deliveries.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] Corroborated by the results of studies in India, our study found substantial differences in deaths due to residence, where rural area accounted for a larger proportion of deaths than urban area. [10][11][12] The residence difference in neonatal mortality may be due to deprived health facility services and poor referral system.…”

Determinantes sociodemográficos y clínicos asociados a mortalidad fetal intrauterina en el municipio de Pasto, 2010-2012

“…Durante la gestación, tanto madre como feto se encuentran expuestos a factores de riesgo que de manera directa o indirecta influyen en el desarrollo normal del embarazo, estos amenazan la salud, la vida y en gran parte conllevan a desenlaces fatales; sin embargo, la información que se tiene actualmente no es del todo concluyente acerca de las causas que generan la mortalidad fetal, razón por la cual aún no se ha considerado como un problema prioritario de salud pública, carece de estrategias de intervención y sus repercusiones son serias en la vida familiar (8,13) . Generalmente, se considera que es un evento determinado por un componente clínico y patológico de la madre o del feto.…”

“…Surekha et al desarrollaron a cabo estudios en India durante el mismo periodo de tiempo, encontrando que la mortalidad perinatal fue más frecuente en la zona rural, en una situación socioeconómica baja y ninguna de las mujeres pertenecían a la clase social media alta o superior; la mayoría de ellas no tenían educación y solo un 1% alcanzaron a graduarse, resultados que en estos aspectos difieren del presente estudio, pero que si manifiestan una relación concluyendo que la disminución de peso fetal es inversamente proporcional a la muerte perinatal, es decir, a mayor peso adquirido por el feto durante la gestación, menor será su riesgo de morir intrautero (8) .…”

“…Sin embargo, la información que se tiene actualmente acerca de las causas que generan la mortalidad fetal no es concluyente (8,9) .…”