[The perinatal mortality in a general hospital].

BACKGROUND

the perinatal mortality (PM) represents a partial expression of a developing country and its health programs. The aim was to determine the rate of PM in a second level hospital that lacks the support of a perinatal care unit, and to help with some epidemiological elements to plan strategies to give a better care in the perinatal stage.

METHODS

we collected all records of deaths within the parameters of perinatal death. DATA INCLUDED: maternal age, prenatal history, cause of the perinatal death and birth control information.

RESULTS

out of 117 deaths, 59.8 % were in the late fetal death stage, and the rest in the first week of life. The PM rate calculated for each year from 2004 to 2007 was the following: 11.3, 12.8, 12.53, and 15.46: The birth control was good in 73 % of the cases, the most frequent cause of death was the interruption of maternal-fetal circulation in 80 % of the cases, and the early neonatal death was due to perinatal asphyxia in 20 %. The incidence of major malformations was 26.5 %.

CONCLUSIONS

the undeniable increase in the PM rate forced us to encourage our staff to improve the availability of adequate material for the neonatal care.