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Van Den Broek, Nynke 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8523-2684, Ntonya, C., Kayira, E., White, S. and Neilson, J. P.
(2005)
'Preterm birth in rural Malawi: high incidence in ultrasound-dated population'. Human Reproduction, Vol 20, Issue 11, pp. 3235-3237.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the major cause of neonatal death, and has an incidence in industrialized countries of 7%. We have found a high incidence (25-30%) previously in a population of anaemic, pregnant women in southern Malawi, studied with ultrasound dating. METHODS: Cohort study of 512 unselected pregnant women in rural communities in Malawi. All had ultrasound fetal measurements before 24 weeks. RESULTS: 20.3% of women delivered before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Babies born before 37 completed weeks but after 32 weeks (16%) were twice as likely to die as babies born at term (6.9 versus 3.4%) but this difference did not achieve statistical significance. For those born between 24 and 33 weeks gestation (4.4%) there was a highly significant increase in perinatal mortality (75%) (p < 0 .000001). CONCLUSIONS: This population has a very high rate of preterm birth, which is probably infection-related. It may be representative of many rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Tackling the problem of neonatal mortality in low income countries will require effective methods to prevent preterm birth.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | infection malawi neonatal mortality preterm birth ultrasound |
| Subjects: | WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 310 Maternal welfare WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 395 Health in developing countries WQ Obstetrics > Pregnancy Complications > WQ 240 Pregnancy complications (General) WQ Obstetrics > Pregnancy Complications > WQ 256 Infectious diseases |
| Digital Object Identifer (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dei208 |
| Depositing User: | Ms Julia Martin |
| Date Deposited: | 27 Jul 2011 10:41 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Dec 2021 08:10 |
| URI: | https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/1894 |
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