Causes of perinatal mortality in an African city

Little has been published about the causes of most of the deaths responsible for the high perinatal mortality rates characteristic of preindustrial, urban societies. The present study searched for answers in one such society by identifying the causes of death in a large-scale analysis of perinatal mortality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A 72% autopsy rate was achieved when 1019 postmortem examinations were performed for 1424 consecutive perinatal deaths. The overall perinatal mortality rate was 65.3 per thousand live births. The ratio of stillbirths to neonatal deaths was 2.7:1, indicating that maternal factors were dominant in causing the deaths. One-third of the deaths were due to amniotic fluid infections, 15% to obstructed labour, 8% to abruptio placentae, and the rest to more than 20 other specific disorders.