Abstract

Prevalence of Birth Asphyxia and Associated Factors among Neonates Delivered in Dilchora Referral Hospital, in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia

Neil Abdurashid Ibrahim, Ahmed Muhye and Selah Abdulie

Introduction: The greatest gap in new-born care is often during the critical first week of life when most neonatal and maternal deaths often occur at home and without any contact with the formal health sector. Some unacceptable practices such as unskilled attendants during delivery, unhygienic delivery practices, taboos and superstitions associated with caring for the new-born greatly affect new-born survival in Ethiopia. The aim of this study is to identify the prevalence and associated factors of birth asphyxia among babies born in Dilchora referral hospital.

Methods and materials: Hospital based retrospective study design was used among babies born in Dilchora referral hospital of three years of study period from 1st July 2014 to 30th June 2017 and admitted to NICU with APGAR score <7 at 5th min. Data was collected by two data collectors by reviewing NICU registration book.

Result: Of 9738 babies born in the study period, 302 (3.1%) had birth asphyxia from our records; but only 246 (81.5%) case files with complete documentations were retrieved, giving a prevalence of 2.5% or 25/1000 live birth. Age ranges between 15 to 25 (AOR, 0.04; CI 0.03-0.07) and (AOR, 0.02; CI 0.050-0.091) Who were illiterate (AOR, 0.08; CI 0.035-0.049) and who were primary educational level (AOR, 0.04; CI 0.023-0.043) Born with vacuum delivery AOR, 0.042; CI 0.082-0.043) and Forceps delivery (AOR, 0.05; CI 0.06-0.09) duration of labour <18 h (AOR, 0.017; CI 0.012-0.9) were important determinant factors for birth asphyxia.

Conclusion and recommendation: Prevalence of birth asphyxia was almost close to the national prevalence 29/1000 live births. APGAR score at 5th min were 204 (82.9%) 4-6 and 42 (17.1%) 0-3 scores. Two hundred nineteen (89%) of babies were discharged; while 27 (11%) died. So higher official of regional health bureau and hospital administrators as well NGOs should have to act collaboratively in order to improve poor birth outcome.