title: Neonatal mortality in India's rural poor: Findings of a household survey and verbal autopsy study in Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha.
abstract: In 2011, Save the Children India launched a project for the disadvantaged population of Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha. As a baseline activity, neonatal deaths during January-December 2012 were investigated using modified verbal autopsy tool in six sub-district-level administrative units (blocks) adopting 30-cluster sample survey approach. Our study reported a total of 189 neonatal deaths of which 50% occurred at home and 39% happened on Day 1. About half of the deaths occurred in blocks from Bihar. High number of neonatal deaths belonged to households that were below poverty line (64%) and other disadvantaged classes (46%); among mothers who were illiterate (65%), <20 years of age (54%) and during their first-order births (36%). Birth asphyxia was a major cause of neonatal deaths across all blocks. These findings indicate need for easy and early access to transport services, specialized neonatal care and advocacy targeted towards increasing community awareness.
authors.affiliation: Save the Children, New Delhi, India, 110019 vani1825@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vishal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dogra
authors.affiliation: Save the Children, New Delhi, India, 110019.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.affiliation: Public Health Specialist, New Delhi, India, 110019.
authors.forename: Anuradha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India, 110016.
authors.forename: Ajay M V
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, India, 442102.
authors.forename: Hemant D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Shewade
authors.affiliation: Centre for International Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia, 3004.
authors.forename: Suman S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Majumdar
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009874:Operations Research; D012424:Rural Population
keywords: India; SORT-IT; disadvantaged community; neonatal mortality; operational research; verbal autopsy