Table 1. Characteristics of mothers, deliveries and pregnancies in study of perinatal verbal autopsy, by birth outcomea.
| Characteristic | No. early neonatal death (%)b | No. stillbirth (%)b | Total (%)b |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of mothers | 106 | 128 | 234 |
| Age (years) | 104 | 123 | 227 |
| < 20 | 18 (17.3) | 17 (13.8) | 35 (15.4) |
| 20–35 | 76 (73.1) | 91 (74.0) | 167 (73.6) |
| > 35 | 10 (9.6) | 15 (12.2) | 25 (11.0) |
| Parity (excluding current pregnancy), mean and SD | 2.6 (2.9) | 3.1 (2.9) | 2.9 (2.9) |
| Formal schooling completed | 105 | 127 | 232 |
| None, illiterate | 56 (53.3) | 67 (52.8) | 123 (53.0) |
| None, literate/primary | 38 (36.2) | 48 (37.8) | 86 (37.1) |
| Some secondary/university | 11 (10.5) | 12 (9.4) | 23 (9.9) |
| Mother with partner or spouse | 98 (92.5) | 122 (96.1) | 220 (94.4) |
| Mother received prenatal carec | 97 (91.5) | 107 (84.3) | 204 (87.6) |
| Mode of delivery | 106 | 128 | 234 |
| Vaginal vertex | 99 (93.4) | 108 (84.4) | 207 (88.5) |
| Vaginal breech | 7 (6.6) | 20 (15.6) | 27 (11.5) |
| Location of delivery | 106 | 128 | 234 |
| Home | 55 (51.9) | 71 (55.5) | 126 (53.8) |
| Clinic | 27 (25.5) | 28 (21.9) | 55 (23.5) |
| Birth attendant’s home | 24 (22.6) | 28 (21.9) | 52 (22.2) |
| En route to hospital | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.8) | 1 (0.4) |
| Birth attendant | 106 | 128 | 234 |
| Nurse or midwife | 28 (26.4) | 28 (21.9) | 56 (23.9) |
| Traditional birth attendant, certified | 61 (57.5) | 79 (61.7) | 140 (59.8) |
| Traditional birth attendant, untrained | 17 (16.0) | 21 (16.4) | 38 (16.2) |
| Current pregnancy | 106 | 128 | 234 |
| Woman had twins/triplets | 7 (6.6) | 6 (4.7) | 13 (5.6) |
| Deaths among twins/triplets | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| All babies died | 3 (42.9) | 3 (50.0) | 6 (46.2) |
| One baby died | 4 (57.1) | 3 (50.0) | 7 (53.8) |
SD, standard deviation.
a All values in the table are absolute numbers and percentages unless otherwise indicated.
b The denominator used to derive each percentage is the total number of women in the particular category. For example, the denominator used to derive the percentage of illiterate women who experienced a stillbirth (52.8%) is the total number of women who experienced a stillbirth and whose educational level is known (i.e. 127). Denominators vary because missing and don’t know responses for specific items are excluded from the denominators.
c Other than from a traditional birth attendant.
Note: The table is restricted to the subset of deaths for which maternal and birth attendant responses to questions on the time of death (i.e. stillbirth versus early neonatal death) were concordant.