Prevalence of Prematurity in the Neonatology Unit of the Reference Health Centre of the Commune I of Bamako (Mali)

Abstract

Prematurity is defined as any viable birth before the 37th week of amenorrhea (259th day), starting from the first day of the last menstrual period during our study period, 1006 newborns were hospitalised in the neonatology unit. In Africa, preterm infants are one of the leading causes of neonatal mortality and account for one fifth of all neonatal mortality cases. Materials and Method: This was a prospective descriptive study of premature newborns hospitalised at the commune I neonatology unit from July 2018 to June 2019. We included all premature infants hospitalized during the study period, whose records were usable. Result: In our study, we had a prevalence of 11.93%, the average maternal age was 24.26 years with extremes of 15 and 40 years. The majority of premature babies came from the maternity ward of the CSRéf 85%. The average birth weight was 1650 g, with a predominance of the 1500 to 1800 g range (45.84%). The average gestational age according to the Farr score was 33.89 days, with the most common gestational age range being 35-36 days, i.e. 43.33%. The most common complications were: probable neonatal infection 85%, followed by haemodynamic disorders 35% and respiratory distress 34.7%. The average length of hospital stay was 5.13 days, with extremes of 3 days to 90 days. In-hospital mortality was 7.5%, with respiratory distress being the most common cause of death (66.7%) followed by seizures (11.1%).