[Unassisted natural childbirth at the Talangai Central Hospital in Brazzaville, Congo]

The purpose of this study was to determine the profile of women who give unassisted natural home childbirth (UNHC) in Brazzaville and to evaluate maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.

This prospective descriptive study was carried out at the Maternity Clinic of the Talangaï Central Hospital (TCH) from November 1, 2006 to October 31, 2008.

Women who gave UNHC and were afterwards admitted to the TCH.

The frequency of UNHC was 3.7%. The 19- to 35-year age bracket accounted for 72.6% of cases. The main causes underlying UNHC were ignorance of the initial clinical signs of labor for 37 of the 61 primipares (60.7%) and waiting for onset of labor before going to the hospital for 167 of the 360 paucipares and multipares (46.4%). For 234 women, UNHC occurred after pregnancy without prenatal care. In 57.8% of these cases, the reason for admission after UNCR was hemorrhage. More than half of the women (56.8%) who gave UNHC lived women live near a medical facility. Term pregnancies accounted for 41.3% cases of UNHC and undetermined term for 34.4%. At least one maternal complication was observed in 65.3% of cases. Neonatal morbidity was observed in 24% of cases and perinatal mortality in 11.4%.

UNHC is still common in Brazzaville owing mainly to poor public awareness. Public information campaigns to educate women to recognize the initial signs of labor could decrease the frequency of UNHC.