Determinants of Neonatal Mortality in North Shoa Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia, neonatal mortality has been declined since the declaration of Millennium Developmental Goals, but the rate was slower since 2006. Thus, this study was designed to assess the determinants of neonatal mortality (NM) in North Shoa Zone. A community based case-control study was conducted on 84 cases and 252 controls. Cases were deceased new-borns within 28 days of birth while controls were infants survived beyond the first 28 days. Data were collected from mothers of the cases and controls using interviewer administered questionnaires. Multivariate analysis was done to examine determinants of NM. Variables significantly associated with NM in bivariate analysis were selected for multivariate analysis. Neonates whose mothers not attended antenatal care (AOR: 3.47; 95%CI: 1.44–8.32), delivered at home (AOR: 2.86; 95%CI: 1.56–5.26), and not received postnatal care services (AOR: 3.09; 95%CI: 1.73–5.51) were more likely to die. The odds of neonatal death was higher among neonates not breastfed within the first hour of delivery than those who breastfed within the first hour of delivery (AOR: 23.48; 95%CI: 8.43–65.37). Likewise, no-colostrum intake was positively associated with neonatal death. Neonates born to mothers who not received or received a single dose of tetanus toxoid injection (TTI) were more likely to experience death than those neonates born to mothers who received two or more doses of TTI (AOR: 2.05; 95%CI: 1.14–3.70). Furthermore, being small in size at birth (AOR: 2.66; 95%CI: 1.33–5.33) and male in sex (AOR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.06–3.26) were risk factors for NM. In conclusion, neonatal mortality was significantly associated with factors that are modifiable through addressing the continuum-of-care approach in healthcare services in North Shoa. This implies that ensuring a continuity of health care services for maternal and new-borns from antenatal to postnatal care will improve neonatal survival.

<p>Time to Death and its Predictors among Neonates Admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia</p>

“…Other findings also support a positive association of place of delivery with neonatal mortality. 19,20 This might be explained by the fact that home deliveries are assisted by unskilled attendants in unsafe and unequipped settings and hold higher risks of mortality of neonates and mothers. 21 In this study, neonates who did not cry at birth had about three times more risk of death compared with those who cried at birth.…”

The magnitude of neonatal mortality and its predictors in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…To assess the association of neonatal sepsis with neonatal mortality, we have include five studies [33,[36][37][38]41], Patients who had neonatal sepsis had almost one and half times higher chance of neonatal death compared to those patients without sepsis OR: 1.23(95% CI:1.1, 1.4) ( Figure 7). The heterogeneity test showed extreme evidence of variation across studies (I 2 = 90%, P=…”

Prevalence and determinants of neonatal danger signs in northwest Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis

“…At individual level, birth weight of the newborn, as judged by the mother, was found to be an important factor in predicting the occurrence of neonatal danger signs. Even if there were no prior studies found on predictors of neonatal danger signs in particular, many studies showed that low birth weight is an important predictor of neonatal mortality (17,21–23).…”