Morbidity and Mortality among Infants with Normal Birth Weight in a New Born Baby Unit.

Abstract

A prospective study of all newborn infants with normal birthweight admitted to the newborn unit, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar from April 1996 to March 1998, was carried out. The aims were to determine the causes of morbidity and mortality among these neonates as well as relate these to the place of delivery. Of the 286 babies admitted to the unit during this period, the major causes of morbidity were septicaemia in 35.9 percent, neonatal jaundice in 19 percent, tetanus in 13 percent and birth asphyxia in 10.9 percent. There were 52 deaths, an overall mortality of 18 percent. Neonatal tetanus was the leading cause of death in this series accounting for 42.3 percent of the deaths and a case fatality rate of 59.5 percent. Other causes were birth asphyxia, septicaemia, neonatal jaundice and congenital abnormalities. Most of the morbidity and mortality were in babies delivered in religious buildings and the homes of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). Health education and other strategies aimed at changing the attitude of our TBAs and spiritualists towards utilization of sterile procedures, immunization services and prompt referral of complicated obstetric cases to where modern health care facilities exist, are recommended.

Nigerian Journal of Paediatrics 2001; 28:13. pp. 13-17