Predictors of immediate neonatal outcome after cesarean section in Uganda

Abstract

Child health is a priority in global health and United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 states that preventable deaths of newborns and children under five must end by 2030. In addition, all countries should reduce the neonatal mortality rate to at most 12 per 1000 live births by 2030. 1 The past few decades have seen a substantial decline of the mortality rate in under-5s, but with little progress for the youngest children. The risk of dying during childhood is highest in the first month of life, with an average of 18 deaths per 1000 live births. In 2017, this translated into 2.5 million deaths of children less than 1 month old. Three-quarters of these children die during the first week after birth and a third die the same day they are born. 2 Stillbirth rates have declined more slowly than the maternal mortality ratio and the under-5 mortality rate. In 2009, there were an estimated 2.6 million stillbirths, of which 98% occurred in low-or middle-income countries. 3 Half of the 7200 stillbirths that occur every day are often preventable intrapartum stillbirths. 3,4 Cesarean sections are, when medically justified,