A study of perinatal mortality and associated maternal profile in a medical college hospital.

A study conducted at the NRS Medical College in Calcutta India reviewed all perinatal deaths recorded in 1993. There were 575 such deaths in 8488 live births for a perinatal mortality rate of 67.7 per 1000 live births. This is substantially higher than the all-India perinatal mortality ratio of 42.3 because the Calcutta hospital serves as a major referral center for complicated pregnancies. There were 326 stillbirths (38.4 per 1000 live births) and 249 early neonatal deaths (29.3 per 1000 live births). 53.6% of the perinatal deaths involved primiparas and 22.8% involved mothers of parities above 3. 35.1% of mothers in perinatal mortality cases presented with pregnancy-related risk factors including toxemia (14.8%) severe anemia (13%) and antepartum hemorrhage (2.6%). In 494 (85.9%) of the 575 deaths antenatal care was absent or inadequate. Improved antenatal coverage is essential to the early detection and treatment of risk factors for perinatal mortality.