Perinatal mortality in rural Malawi.
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.
McDermott
J
J
Malaria Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Steketee
R
R
Wirima
J
J
D001827:Body Height; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006700:Home Childbirth; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008295:Malawi / Q000453:epidemiology; D010298:Parity; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013587:Syphilis / Q000150:complications