IOSR Journal of Pharmacy ISSN: 2250-3013, www.iosrphr.org ‖‖ Volume 2 Issue 4 ‖‖ July-August 2012 ‖‖ PP.43-46 43 Socio demographic factors affecting perinatal mortality- A study in a rural setup Tayade Surekha A 1 , Naina Kumar 2 1 Professor, 2 Assistant Professor Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram Abstract Background:- Perinatal mortality is a sensitive indicator of the quality of services provided to pregnant women and their newborn. Perinatal mortality audit in a health care facility helps to determine the important cause of perinatal deaths and take measures to reduce it. This study was carried out to find out the socio demographic causes of perinatal deaths. Material and Methods: - A clinical observational study was undertaken at a tertiary care teaching hospital in a rural area over a period of 1 year from October 2010 and September 2011. Results: -The perinatal mortality rate was found to be 17.07 per 1000 live births. Early age at pregnancy, illiteracy, rural residence and poor socioeconomic status was commonly associated with higher perinatal deaths. Other factors directly contributing to perinatal deaths were unbooked status, low and high birth order pregnancy and occupation of parents. Conclusion: - Effective measures to reduce perinatal mortality need to be started well before the birth of a child by concentrating on education status of women, improving the paying capacity of the couple by providing employment and improving health care delivery system in rural area. Keywords: PERINATAL MORTALITY, SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, RURAL AREA I. INTRODUCTION Of the estimated 130 million infants born each year worldwide, 4 million die in the first 28 days of life [1]. Three-quarters of neonatal deaths occur in the first week and more than one-quarter occur in the first 24 hours [1, 2]. Neonatal deaths and stillbirths stem from poor maternal health, inadequate care during pregnancy, inappropriate management of complications during pregnancy and delivery, poor hygiene during delivery and the first critical hour after birth and lack of newborn care. Several factors such as women’s status in society, their nutritional status at the time of conception, early childbearing, too many closely spaced pregnancies and harmful practices, such as inadequate cord care, letting the baby stay wet and cold, discarding colostrum and feeding other food, are deeply rooted in the cultural fabric of societies and interact in ways that are not always clearly understood [2]. While developed countries have seen dramatic decline in perinatal mortality because of investments in reproductive health and socio-economic conditions, corresponding progress in low income countries has been slow [3]. Perinatal mortality audit in an institution helps to find out not only the status of quality of services but also helps to determine the important cause of perinatal deaths and take measures to reduce it. This study was done in a tertiary care centre in a rural area to study the socio-demographic factors affecting perinatal mortality. II. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective observational study was carried out in department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of a tertiary care medical institute of central India. The hospital caters to rural population and annually 5000 deliveries are conducted here. We evaluated perinatal mortality for all births at Kasturba Hospital, Sewagram for a period of 1 year from October 2010 to September 2011. All perinatal deaths after 22 weeks of gestation were included in the study. A predesigned proforma and case definitions for data collection was developed. Maternal age, parity, place of residence, literacy, family income, socioeconomic status, occupation and booked/unbooked status were the parameters that were looked into. Statistical analysis was done by Stata 10 software and results expressed in percentages and proportion. Ethical clearance was obtained from institutional ethical committee. III. RESULTS Between October 2010 and September 2011, there were 5,672 live births at Kasturba hospital with 84 stillbirths, 14 intrapartum deaths and 86 early neonatal deaths, making a total of 184 perinatal deaths. The perinatal mortality rate was found to be 17.07 per 1000 births for this period. If we look into the maternal factors