Abstract
Abstract
 Objective: This study is designed to systematically review the prevalence of preterm birth from previously published studies of Pakistan and to find pooled prevalence from available local data.
 Methodology: Targeted literature was searched with specific key words such as “preterm birth, prematurity, prevalence and mortality in preterm birth in Pakistan”. Studies with copyright and/or permission issues were excluded. A total of 300 studies were found initially that were somewhat related to the topic, after careful screening only 5 studies met inclusion criteria for cur-rent study. To test the null hypothesis for all studies
 evaluating effect Cochran's Q was used and P-values with a level of significance of 5%were considered significant.
 Results: The pooled prevalence of Preterm Birth was found to be 18.89% using fixed effect, 16.81% using random effect and 18.89% using fixed effect heterogeneity. I-squared for each effect model was > 75%. On applying Chi2 test we obtained significant p-value i.e. p-value < 0.01.
 Conclusion: Through this meta-analysis we found one of the highest pooled prevalence of preterm birth in Pakistan. Reducing preterm birth can result in improvement of overall neonatal health and significantly reduce neonatal mortality in future.
Highlights
In human preterm birth (PTB) is defined as a baby born before 37 weeks or 259 days of gestation.[1,2] Babies born before 32 weeks of gestation are called very preterm infants and those born before 28 weeks of gestation are called extremely preterm infants.[3]
On applying Chi[2] test we obtained significant p-value i.e. p-value < 0.01. Through this meta-analysis we found one of the highest pooled prevalence of preterm birth in Pakistan
Reducing preterm birth can result in improvement of overall neonatal health and significantly reduce neonatal mortality in future
Summary
In human preterm birth (PTB) is defined as a baby born before 37 weeks or 259 days of gestation.[1,2] Babies born before 32 weeks of gestation are called very preterm infants and those born before 28 weeks of gestation are called extremely preterm infants.[3] A preterm birth may be due to spontaneous labour with intact membranes, premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM), labour induction or caesarean delivery for maternal or fetal indications.[4]
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