title: Previous birth outcome of antenatal clinic attenders in northern KwaZulu--perinatal and infant mortality rates.
abstract: A questionnaire survey was undertaken among pregnant women presenting for the first time to antenatal clinics attached to Mosvold Hospital in rural northern KwaZulu. They were asked details of the outcome of their previous pregnancies and the survival of their last-born children. Of 2,388 mothers interviewed, 1,795 had given birth previously. Of these, 41% had had their last deliveries at home, 47% in hospital and 10% at clinics. The perinatal mortality rate was 38/1,000, with no significant differences between home and hospital or clinic births. The infant mortality rate for live-born children was 62/1,000. Fifty per cent of child deaths occurred at home. The study methodology was easily applied and provided an acceptable alternative technique for measuring child mortality rates, which are so difficult to obtain in rural areas in southern Africa.
authors.affiliation: Mosvold Hospital, Department of Health, KwaZulu.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Buchmann
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Crofton Briggs
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McIntyre
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008430:Maternal-Child Health Centers; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012424:Rural Population; D013019:South Africa; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires