Prevalence of Perinatal Asphyxia in Neonates at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Perinatal asphyxia is one of the major causes of perinatal and early neonatal mortality in developing countries. The main objective of this study was to observe the prevalence of perinatal asphyxia in babies born at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital.

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital over six month period (January to June 2019). All preterm, term and post term babies delivered at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital were included. Ethical clearance was received from Institutional Review Committee of Kathmandu Medical College (Ref.:2812201808). Convenient sampling method was applied. Data analysis was done in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 18), point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.

A total of 1284 babies delivered over six months period were enrolled in this study and 47 (3.66 %) babies were asphyxiated, at 95% Confidence Interval (2.64%-4.68%). The mean birth weight of asphyxiated babies was 2759.75±65 grams and gestational age was 37.57±2 weeks. Among asphyxiated babies, 15 (32%) babies were normal, 15 (32%) babies were in Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy stage I, 14 (30%) were in stage II and 3 (6%) were in stage III. Twenty Three (49%) asphyxiated babies had antenatal risk factors and all 47 babies had intrapartum risk factors leading to asphyxia.

Prevalence of perinatal asphyxia was lower compared to that of other similar tertiary care hospitals. Perinatal asphyxia remains a major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality.