Comparison of neonatal complications in pre-eclamptic and spontaneous preterm labour in the Persian Gulf Hospital of Bandar Abbas City, Iran, from 2011-2016

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia is an important disease that affected 3.7% of infants and led to 18% of maternal deaths. In addition to maternal complications, fetal complications are also a major contributor to pre-eclampsia.

Objectives: To evaluate the neonatal outcome of preterm labour (PTL) due to pre-eclampsia and compare its complications with those of spontaneous PTL.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 190 cases of PTL using a randomized sampling method, in which 94 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and 96 women with spontaneous PTL participated. Infant characteristics, including weight, height, head circumference, as well as respiratory disorders, Apgar score, jaundice, and mortality were recorded from medical files. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS ver. 20 via t-test, and Chi-squared test.

Results: The mean ages of mothers with pre-eclampsia and spontaneous PTL were 27.76±7.06 and 26.94±4 years, respectively. The numbers of hospitalisation days in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), birth weights, Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes, head circumference, and jaundice were significantly different in the two groups. However, respiratory distress, number of infant deaths, and the length of the infants were not significantly different in the two groups.

Conclusions: In this study on preterm infants, pre-eclampsia had a significant impact on NICU hospitalisation rate, length of stay in NICU, Apgar scores in first and fifth minutes, the incidence of jaundice, weight, and head circumference at birth, but not on the length of the baby or respiratory distress.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2020; 49(3): 240-245