Incidence and outcome of preterm deliveries in Mother and Child Hospital Akure, Southwestern Nigeria

Background: Preterm birth contributes significantly to neonatal deaths. Its burden should be defined to enhance interventions especially in resource-limited settings with poor neonatal health indices.

 Objectives: To determine the incidence of preterm delivery in the Mother and Child Hospital, Akure, to investigate the outcome and explore the relationship between birth weight and neonatal survival.

 Method: Demographic and clinical features (gestational age, birth weight and outcome) of consecutive preterm infants were documented for one and a half years. Incidence of preterm birth was computed, using total birth as the denominator. Quarterly incidence of preterm birth was presented graphically. Univariate logistic regression analysis of birth weight as a predictor of preterm death was done.  P value <0.05 was considered significant.

 Results: Of 10,432 births during study period, 1,606 were preterm giving an incidence of preterm births of 15.4%. Among preterm infants, 1,449 (90.2%) had low birth weight (LBW), 123 (7.7%) very low birth weight (VLBW) and 34 (2.1%) extremely low birth weight (ELBW). Most (92.8%) preterm babies were discharged. Prematurity had a case fatality rate (CFR) of 5.6%. Compared to normal birth weight infants, ELBW babies were 250 times and VLBW infants 47.6 times more likely to die.  

Conclusions: Incidence of preterm delivery in the Mother and Child Hospital, Akure was 15.4%. The CFR of prematurity was 5.6%. ELBW had the highest percentage of deaths (70.6%)