Correlation between maternal infections and neonatal health: Evidence from Haji Adam Malik Hospital, Medan.

Maternal infections remain a critical but under-addressed determinant of neonatal health in Indonesia, yet hospital-based evidence is limited. This retrospective study reviewed 206 maternal records at Haji Adam Malik Hospital, Medan (2015-2018) to examine the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis and their associations with neonatal outcomes. HIV prevalence was 6.8% (14/206), substantially higher than national estimates, while hepatitis B was detected in 2.4% (5/206) and no syphilis cases were identified. Overall, one-third of infants (33%) were born with low birth weight and 9.2% had suboptimal Apgar scores. Bivariate analysis showed significant associations between HIV infection and elevated maternal leukocyte counts with adverse neonatal outcomes (p < 0.05). Unexpectedly, none of the hepatitis B-reactive mothers had infants with low birth weight or poor Apgar scores, a finding likely due to the very small sample size and potential confounding. These results highlight the disproportionate burden of HIV in Medan, the methodological challenges of small-case analyses, and the urgent need for reliable antenatal infection screening and strengthened prevention of mother-to-child transmission services to reduce preventable neonatal morbidity.