Current Pediatric Research

Background: The health of the infant has improved recently, but that of the newborn is not. Most causes of neonatal morbidity are preventable. Neonatal morbidity and mortality rates reflect the efficiency of health services in a country. The survival of newborns depends upon the care they receive. Advances in neonatal management have made considerable improvements in the survival of newborns but in developing countries, neonatal morbidity and mortality are still very high.

Aim: This study aimed to determine the disease patterns and outcomes of patients admitted to the nursery care unit of Thamar University Al-Wahdah teaching hospital, Ma'bar city, Dhamar governorate, Yemen. And to determine the main causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective study conducted in the nursery care unit of Thamar university Al-Wahdah teaching hospital, Ma'bar City, Dhamar governorate, Yemen. The study was conducted through the period from the 1st of September 2019 to the 29th of February 2020. The data collected included: sex, gestational age, age at admission, weight at admission, place of delivery, final diagnosis, length of hospital stay, and the outcome.

Results: The number of neonates with complete data was 290 of the total admissions (305) to the unit during the study period. 196 (67.6%) were males while 94 (32.4%) were females. A total of 202 patients (69.7%) were born in the hospital while 88 (30.3%) were born at home. The most of cases were admitted during the first 24 hours of life (60.0%). Pneumonia, prematurity, neonatal sepsis, and neonatal asphyxia were the most common morbidities (24.1%, 21.0%, 19.7%, and 16.2%, respectively). The overall mortality was 22.1% (64 out of 290 babies). Prematurity was the most common cause of death.

Conclusion: Pneumonia, prematurity, and birth sepsis were the main causes of admissions (24.1%, 21.0%, and 19.7% respectively). The first step in improving neonatal survival is to document the number and rate of deaths and identify their common causes. We strongly recommend increasing the facilities and health care workers to decrease in neonatal mortality rate by providing better nursing care in the tribal regions.

Author(s): Abdulkareem A Al-Shameri*, Abdulhakim A Al-Selwi, Khalil I AL-Shakhab, Diyaa H Motawe, Mohammed S ALyohairy, Salah M ALyafaei, Saleh M ALflahy, Mohammed D Mashaleh, Marsail M Manaserh, Ali Ahmed Al-Zaazaai

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