Prevalence of stillbirth at the Buea Regional Hospital, Fako Division south-west region, Cameroon.

Joyce Shirinde,Fala Bede,Claude Ngwayu Nkfusai,Liza Enanga Efande,Nkengafac Boris Anu,Marvelle Nanyongo Mbua Evelle,Samuel Nambile Cumber

doi:10.11604/pamj.2019.33.315.17979

Abstract

IntroductionThe study investigated the prevalence of stillbirth at the Buea regional hospital, by taking cases of pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic(s) and those who did not attend but had their deliveries at the Buea regional hospital. The study specifically estimated the prevalence of stillbirths; identified possible risk factors associated with stillbirths, and determined whether the number of antenatal clinic visits is related to the occurrence of stillbirths-because during antenatal clinic visits, pregnant women are educated on risk factors of stillbirths such as: preterm deliveries; sex of the stillbirth; history of stillbirth; history of abortion(s); what age group of mothers are more likely to have a stillbirth.MethodsThe study was a hospital based retrospective study at the maternity in which there were 3577 deliveries registered at the Buea regional hospital dated May 1st, 2014 to April 30th, 2017. With the aid of a checklist data was collected, analysed and presented with the use of tables, pie-charts and bar charts.ResultsThe prevalence of stillbirths was 26‰; possible risk factors associated with stillbirths included: preterm deliveries; women aged 20-29 years; history of abortion(s); a history of stillbirth; sex of stillbirths were more of females than males; and insufficient antenatal clinic attendance (≤1 antenatal clinic attendance) had more stillbirths.ConclusionThe study established that stillbirths can occur in any woman of child-bearing age. possible risk factors associated with stillbirths included: preterm deliveries; women aged 20-29 years; history of abortion(s); a history of stillbirth; gender of stillbirths were more of females than males; and insufficient antenatal clinic attendance (≤1 antenatal clinic attendance) had more stillbirths.

Highlights

Stillbirth is defined as "a baby born with no signs of life at or after 28 weeks of gestation" [1]
The estimated proportion of stillbirths that are intrapartum varies from 10% in developed regions to 59% in South Asia. 75% of all stillbirths in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and 60% occurred in rural families from these areas
Results of this study showed that stillbirths occurred more in mothers who had attended fewer antenatal clinics

Summary

Introduction

Stillbirth is defined as "a baby born with no signs of life at or after 28 weeks of gestation" [1]. Stillbirth rates in some low and middle income countries, and especially those with low health system coverage and quality, approximate those seen in high income countries a century ago (e.g. 30 to 50 per 1000 births) [3]. In the year 2015, there were 2.6 million stillbirths globally, with more than 7178 deaths a day The majority of these cases occurred in developing countries. 75% of all stillbirths in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and 60% occurred in rural families from these areas. This reflects a similar distribution of maternal deaths and correlates with the areas of low-skilled health professional attendants at birth. There was an estimated stillbirth rate of 25.5 per 1000 births for developing countries in the year 2000, with sub-Saharan Africa representing the highest rate (32.2 per 1000 births or a total of 889,697), followed by South Asia

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion