[Epidemiological considerations on the deliveries of stillbirths in the maternity unit of Gecamines Sendwe of Lubumbashi (Zaire)].

In a retrospective study covering the period from January 1/1980 to December 31/1984, the authors found 1535 stillborn infants in the maternity unit of Gecamines Sendwe. The stillbirth rate was very high (30.80 per 1000). It was found that all the pregnancies in which the outcome was fatal for the fetus had not been adequately supervised: 17.84 per cent of women were never examined during their pregnancy while 82.15 per cent underwent less four prenatal visits. The group of primipara and secondipara was predominant (61.88 per cent) between the mothers which had stillborn infants. Urinary tract infection (23.95 per cent) and malaria (17.55 per cent) were the most frequent diseases found in this series.