Skip to main content
PMC home page
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1996;74(2):165–171.

Perinatal mortality in rural Malawi.

J McDermott 1, R Steketee 1, J Wirima 1
PMCID: PMC2486898  PMID: 8706232

Abstract

Reported are the results of a study to assess the prevalence and risk factors for perinatal death among pregnant women in Malawi over the period 1987-90. There were 264 perinatal deaths among the 3866 women with singleton pregnancies (perinatal mortality rate, 68.3 per 1000 births). Among the risk factors for perinatal mortality were the following: reactive syphilis serology, nulliparity, a late fetal or neonatal death in the most recent previous birth, maternal height < 150 cm, home delivery, and low socioeconomic status. Although unexplained perinatal deaths will continue to occur, perinatal mortality can be reduced if its causes and risk factors in a community are given priority in antenatal and intrapartum care programmes. The following interventions could potentially reduce the perinatal mortality in the study population: screening and treating women with reactive syphilis serology; and management from early labour, by competent personnel in a health facility, of nulliparous women and multiparous women who are short or have a history of a perinatal death.

Full text

PDF
165

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baird D. Perinatal mortality. Lancet. 1969 Mar 8;1(7593):511–515. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)91605-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barros F. C., Victora C. G., Vaughan J. P., Estanislau H. J. Perinatal mortality in southern Brazil: a population-based study of 7392 births. Bull World Health Organ. 1987;65(1):95–104. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Coard K., Codrington G., Escoffrey C., Keeling J. W., Ashley D., Golding J. Perinatal mortality in Jamaica 1986-1987. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1991 Aug-Sep;80(8-9):749–755. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1991.tb11944.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fauveau V., Wojtyniak B., Mostafa G., Sarder A. M., Chakraborty J. Perinatal mortality in Matlab, Bangladesh: a community-based study. Int J Epidemiol. 1990 Sep;19(3):606–612. doi: 10.1093/ije/19.3.606. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Greenwood A. M., Greenwood B. M., Bradley A. K., Williams K., Shenton F. C., Tulloch S., Byass P., Oldfield F. S. A prospective survey of the outcome of pregnancy in a rural area of the Gambia. Bull World Health Organ. 1987;65(5):635–643. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lumbiganon P., Panamonta M., Laopaiboon M., Pothinam S., Patithat N. Why are Thai official perinatal and infant mortality rates so low? Int J Epidemiol. 1990 Dec;19(4):997–1000. doi: 10.1093/ije/19.4.997. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. McDermott J., Steketee R., Larsen S., Wirima J. Syphilis-associated perinatal and infant mortality in rural Malawi. Bull World Health Organ. 1993;71(6):773–780. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Rooth G. Better perinatal health. Sweden. Lancet. 1979 Dec 1;2(8153):1170–1172. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)92395-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Schultz L. J., Steketee R. W., Chitsulo L., Macheso A., Nyasulu Y., Ettling M. Malaria and childbearing women in Malawi: knowledge, attitudes and practices. Trop Med Parasitol. 1994 Mar;45(1):65–69. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES