An analysis of neonatal mortality in a tertiary care hospital over a decade – 2008 to 2017

Objective: To evaluate the trends, age at death, causes and birth weights of neonatal deaths from 2008 to 2017 in a tertiary care centre in Sri Lanka.

Method: All neonatal deaths from 2008 to 2017 were included in the analysis.

Results: During this 10-year period, there have been 181 neonatal deaths. Male deaths (54.1%, n=98) outnumbered female deaths. Majority (62.9%) were early neonatal deaths and 45.6% of them had died within the first 24 hours of birth. The leading causes of deaths were extreme prematurity (46.4%), congenital malformations, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, birth asphyxia and septicaemia. Low birth weight was a significant risk factor for the increased neonatal mortality.

Conclusions: Perinatal mortality rate (PNMR) showed a downward trend except in the last two years of the study period. The neonatal mortality rate (NMR) is lower than the national figures and is well below the global and south Asian figures. Majority (63%) were early neonatal deaths with 45.6% dying within first 24 hours of birth. Leading causes of deaths were extreme prematurity, congenital malformations, respiratory distress syndrome, birth asphyxia and septicaemia.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2019; 48(4): 326-333