title: Reducing neonatal mortality in Jhagadia Block, Gujarat: we need to go beyond promoting hospital deliveries.
abstract: METHODS
  We examined data from a cohort of births that occurred in the period 2004-08 in the SEWA-Rural project area, covering a population of ∼175000, in Gujarat, India, to assess the trends and risk factors for neonatal mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this population living in 168 villages, there has been a significant declining trend in infant and neonatal mortality, more marked in the tribal population, in whom this paralleled a rise in the proportion of women delivering in hospitals. The more important risk factors for neonatal mortality risk to emerge from multivariate analysis are low birth weight, prematurity, young age of mother, older mother and high birth order.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although community based interventions along with promotion of hospital birth has an impact in reducing neonatal deaths in this community, sustaining this momentum may demand more long-term policy interventions to promote better living standards and better reproductive health.
authors.affiliation: Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India 695011. kuttyr@gmail.com
authors.forename: V Raman
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Kutty
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Dhiren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Modi
authors.forename: Shobha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Mala
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramanathan
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Archana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001722:Birth Order; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008423:Maternal Age; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult