Abstract
The burden of neonatal morbidity and mortality remains a major health challenge, and contributes to deaths among children under the age of five years especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to report the pattern of diseases and outcomes of neonatal admission over a three-year period. This retrospective study was conducted in the Special Care Baby Unit from January 2013 to December 2015. Data of all the patients admitted to the unit during the study period was analyzed for sex, gestational age, weight, duration of stay, diagnosis on admission, age at admission, outcome and causes of death. A total of 505 patients were admitted during the study period, 310(61.4%) were males and 195(38.6%) were females. There were 374(74.1%) term babies while 111(22.0%) preterm and 20(4.0%) were post term. Low birth weight accounted for 134(30.5%) of all the patients. The commonest cause of neonatal admission was sepsis 40.8%, followed by jaundice 21.0 %, and prematurity 14.1 %. Of the total admissions 86.3% were successfully treated and discharged, 4.2% discharged against medical advice and 9.5 % died. Neonatal deaths were commonly associated with birth asphyxia 31.3 %, followed by neonatal sepsis 27.1% and prematurity 25.0%. Majority (44.6%) of the infants were admitted on the second to seventh day of life. Improving antenatal services, delivery services and neonatal care will help to reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Highlights
Worldwide, 5.9 million children die before reaching the age of 5 years and 2.7 millions of this die in the first 28 days of life.[1]
The global under-five mortality rate is currently 43/1000 live births with a neonatal mortality rate of 19/1000 live births in 2015.1 Substantial progress has been made in reducing child deaths since 1990.1 Both the number of under-five deaths and the rate of under-five mortality have fallen by more than half since 1990.1,2 Despite the global decline, neonatal deaths account for 44 percent of all under five deaths.[2]
The study was a retrospective descriptive study based on analysis of the record of all patients admitted into the special care baby unit (SCBU) of Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), from January 2013 to December 2015.The data of all the admitted neonates were analyzed and patients whose information was incomplete were excluded from the study
Summary
5.9 million children die before reaching the age of 5 years and 2.7 millions of this die in the first 28 days of life.[1]. One million babies die every year on their day of birth and more than a third of neonatal deaths take place on the day
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