A review of neonatal morbidity and mortality in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, northern Nigeria

Abstract

Neonatal morbidity and mortality still poses a serious challenge in developing countries. Low level of obstetric care, unsupervised home deliveries and late referrals lead to poor outcome even in special care baby units (SCBU). To identify the common causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality among babies admitted to the SCBU in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) the case-notes of all admitted neonates from January 1998 to December 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 2963 (98.3%) babies had complete records. There were 1455 (49.1%) in-born (delivered in AKTH) and 1508 (50.9%) out-born (delivered elsewhere) babies. The sex ratio was 1.25:1 in favour of males. A total of 1868 (63.0%) were of normal birth weight, while 951 (32.1%) and 134 (4.5%) were low birth weight and macrocosmic, respectively. The leading diagnoses were birth asphyxia (27%) (severe birth asphyxia 18.1%, moderate asphyxia 8.9%), neonatal sepsis (25.3%) and prematurity (16.0%). Out of the 2963 babies, 501 (16.9%) died. The risk of dying was significantly higher (20.5%) among out-born babies compared with those delivered in AKTH (6.4%) (odds ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval = 1.4-2.1). In conclusion, the causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality at this centre are similar to those reported from other units. They could be prevented through effective antenatal care, supervised delivery and appropriate care and early referral of sick neonates.

Reasons for admission and neonatal outcome in the neonatal care unit of a tertiary care hospital in Addis Ababa: a prospective study

“…Our finding that prematurity (36.6%), sepsis (22.7%), and asphyxia (16.2%) were the most common factors for admission was consistent with the reports from other centers. [12][13][14] The proportion of prematurity, sepsis, and asphyxia as causes of admission vary across different centers. In Tanzania, 13 asphyxia, prematurity, and sepsis accounted for 26.8%, 18.4%, and 15.4% of the causes of admission, respectively, where asphyxia and sepsis contributed a lesser proportion as a cause of admission when compared to ours.…”

Characteristics and mortality of neonates in an emergency obstetric and neonatal care facility, rural Burundi

“…When compared to similar inpatient settings, mortality rates were lower than those reported in Kenya, northern Nigeria and Tanzania (17-19%). [7][8][9] The latter two studies were conducted in tertiary level hospitals. Unfortunately, there is little published information about neonatal hospital-based mortality at district level in sub-Saharan Africa, and international benchmarks are lacking.…”

“…4,6 There is little published information on overall and cause-specifi c mortality for neonates admitted to hospital, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. [7][8][9] In particular, we were unable to identify any publications on from the centre are not admitted here, but are instead admitted to the district hospital or referred to neonatal units in the capital. Data on these children were not available.…”

Trends in profiles of bacteria causing neonatal sepsis in Central Nigeria Hospital

“…It is estimated that sub-Saharan Africa had 2.6 million cases of serious bacterial infection in 2012, the highest for any WHO region with a case fatality of 14% (1). Mortality rates are high for neonatal sepsis and reports show that 17%-41% of neonatal deaths in Nigeria are from sepsis (2)(3)(4)(5).…”