Perinatal and neonatal mortality trends over fifteen years in Farwania hospital-Kuwait

ABSTRACT

Reviewing perinatal and neonatal mortality trends during the last fifteen years [1982-1996] revealed a gradual improvement in the reduction of these rates. The latest achieved perinatal mortality rates were 12.9 and 15.6 per 1000 total births and the neonatal mortality rates were 4.4 and 6.6 per 1000 total live births for the years 1995 and 1996 respectively. This improvement was interrupted by a period of deterioration during and following the Iraqi invasion in 1990. Although the impact of an improved neonatal service after the application of intensive care unit [NICU] facilities was documented by a statistically highly significant improvement in mortality rates as the two periods were compared before and after these facilities were in use, changes in mortality rates are far from being a unifactorial phenomenon. It would be very difficult to determine how much this event contributed to the observed changes in mortality pattern as other factors might have a significant role