Impact of Place of Delivery on Neonatal Mortality in Rural Tanzania

Authors

  • Justice ​ Ajaari Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo, Ghana
  • Honorati Masanja Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre, Ifakara, Tanzania
  • Renay Weiner University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Shalom Akonvi Abokyi Soul City, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Seth Owusu-Agyei Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21106/ijma.10

Keywords:

  • Neonatal mortality,
  • Place of delivery,
  • Tanzania,
  • Socioeconomic status,
  • Maternal age

Abstract

Objectives: Studies on factors affecting neonatal mortality have rarely considered the impact of place of delivery on neonatal mortality. This study provides epidemiological information regarding the impact of place of delivery on neonatal deaths.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Rufiji Health and Demographic Surveillance System (RHDSS) in Tanzania. A total of 5,124 live births and 166 neonatal deaths were recorded from January 2005 to December 2006. The place of delivery was categorized as either in a health facility or outside, and the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) was calculated as the number of neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the association between neonatal mortality and place of delivery and other maternal risk factors while adjusting for potential confounders.

Results: Approximately 67% (111) of neonatal deaths occurred during the first week of life. There were more neonatal deaths among deliveries outside health facilities (NMR = 43.4 per 1,000 live births) than among deliveries within health facilities (NMR = 27.0 per 1,000 live births). The overall NMR was 32.4 per 1,000 live births. Mothers who delivered outside a health facility experienced 1.85 times higher odds of experiencing neonatal deaths (adjusted odds ratio = 1.85; 95% confidence interval = 1.33−2.58) than those who delivered in a health facility.

Conclusions and Public Health Implications: Place of delivery is a significant predictor of neonatal mortality. Pregnant women need to be encouraged to deliver at health facilities and this should be done by intensifying education on where to deliver. Infrastructure, such as emergency transport, to facilitate health facility deliveries also requires urgent attention.

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Published

2016-11-29
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How to Cite

Ajaari, J. ​, Masanja, H., Weiner, R., Abokyi, S. A., & Owusu-Agyei, S. (2016). Impact of Place of Delivery on Neonatal Mortality in Rural Tanzania. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS, 1(1), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.21106/ijma.10

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Copyright © 2016 Justice ​ Ajaari, Honorati Masanja, Renay Weiner, Shalom Akonvi Abokyi, Seth Owusu-Agyei. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc., USA.

Creative Commons License

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , which permits others to remix, transform, and build upon the work non-commercially, provided the original author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the same terms.