Outcome of Extremely Low Birth Weight Babies in Zaria; A Ten-Year Review.

BACKGROUND

Survival among extremely low birth weight (ELBW) babies (birth weight below 1000grams) in resource limited settings is still very low. The study aimed to determine the correlation between materno-foetal factors and outcome in this category of neonates.

STUDY

DESIGN

A retrospective study in which patients' records admitted into the Neonatal Unit of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital between January 2005 and December 2014 were retrieved. Information on neonates weighing < 1000 g were extracted and analyzed. Survival at discharge was the primary outcome.

RESULTS

The overall survival rate of extremely low birth weight babies was 18%. Mortality in ELBW neonates weighing less than 750g was 100%. Factors that were significantly predictive of survival were birth weight, parity and duration of hospital stay with p-values of 0.014, 0.039 and 0.025 respectively

CONCLUSION

The survival rate of ELBW babies remains low in our resource constrained setting. Focus should be on preventing preterm deliveries and as well equipping newborn care providers and newborn units with the necessary skills and materials respectively to enable implementation of evidence based interventions to improve newborn survival.