Area variation in perinatal mortality in Jamaica: association with type of hospital services available

ABSTRACT

Information on the area of maternal residence of 1856 singleton perinatal deaths occurring during a 12 month period (September 1986 - August 1987) were compared with those of 9933 singleton births born during a two month period (September-October 1986) and surviving the first week of life (The Jamaican Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Survey). The overall mortality ratio of deaths to estimated survivors was 35.7 per 1000. When the area of residence was categorised according to the type of facilities available, there was a clear trend - births to mothers resident in areas with specialist hospital facilities available, had a mortality ratio of 32.0 per 1000, substantially less than those areas with some obstetric and paediatric facilities (rate 39.2 per 1000) or those with only a cottage hospital and no obstetricians (35.8 per 1000). Categorisation of the deaths using the Wigglesworth classification showed significant variation with intrapartum anoxia. This could not be explained by differences in birthweight, or demographic features of the population. It is concluded that access to a specialist hospital results in a significant reduction in mortality associated with intrapartum asphyxia, but not with other types of perinatal death.