Early Neonatal Mortality’s Determinants in the Neonatology Department of Mohamed V Hospital in Tangier, Morocco

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to identify the determinants of early neonatal mortality in the neonatology department of Mohamed V hospital in Tangier.Material and methods: This is a prospective study including all newborns hospitalized and deceased in the pediatric department of the hospital Mohammed V from June 1 to December 31, 2019. The recorded cases were processed and analyzed by SPSS software.Results: 529 newborns were hospitalized in the pediatric department during the study period, of which 92 died (17.39%) between 0 and 7 days. Four leading causes justified this frequency: prematurity occupies first place (59%), followed by perinatal asphyxia (22%), neonatal infection (15%) in third place, congenital malformations (3%) in fourth place. Parturients aged between 20 and 35 years are the most affected (76%). The majority of women (71.4%) in our series had not undergone prenatal consultation (PNC) or had done so in insufficient numbers.Conclusion: Neonatal mortality remains high. Improvement of this situation requires education of women, reinforcement of surveillance before, during pregnancy, during delivery, and the postpartum period, as well as effective management of premature newborns in the first week of life, should improve the neonatal prognosis by reducing the intra-hospital incidence of neonatal mortality in our setting.