The causes of stillbirths are inseparable from the causes of maternal and neonatal deaths. This report focuses on prevention of stillbirths by scale-up of care for mothers and babies at the ...health-system level, with consideration for effects and cost. In countries with high mortality rates, emergency obstetric care has the greatest effect on maternal and neonatal deaths, and on stillbirths. Syphilis detection and treatment is of moderate effect but of lower cost and is highly feasible. Advanced antenatal care, including induction for post-term pregnancies, and detection and management of hypertensive disease, fetal growth restriction, and gestational diabetes, will further reduce mortality, but at higher cost. These interventions are best packaged and provided through linked service delivery methods tailored to suit existing health-care systems. If 99% coverage is reached in 68 priority countries by 2015, up to 1·1 million (45%) third-trimester stillbirths, 201 000 (54%) maternal deaths, and 1·4 million (43%) neonatal deaths could be saved per year at an additional total cost of US$10·9 billion or $2·32 per person, which is in the range of $0·96–2·32 for other ingredients-based intervention packages with only recurrent costs.
This is a literature review onperinatal mortality focusing its evitability. A Medline and Lilacs (Latin-America and Caribbean) search was conducted for the 90s. There are few research studies on this ...subject in Brazil due to the great number of underreported fetal deaths and the low quality information provided in death certificates. Different proposals for perinatal death classification are presented. Most are based on grouping the underlying causes of deaths in a functional system in order to facilitate the analysis. In the Wigglesworth classification system, one of the most recommended methods, deaths are related to the different stages of care for pregnant women and children, evidencing the possibilities of their prevention. The evitability approach of perinatal deaths in Brazil is highly recommended, as mortality rates are still very high and most of the deaths are considered avoidable. Premature deaths could be avoided improving the quality of health care. Besides improving the medical assistance, the organization of health care regarding pre-natal, birth and neonatal care must also be better developed to ensure access to qualified assistance.
Tendo em vista a elevada taxa de mortalidade perinatal em Belo Horizonte, foi realizado estudo dos 826 óbitos perinatais da coorte de nascimentos ocorridos no município em 1999, com análise da ...possibilidade de sua prevenção, utilizando-se o enfoque de evitabilidade de Wigglesworth. A taxa de mortalidade perinatal observada foi 20,2 por mil e o risco de morte perinatal foi vinte vezes maior para as crianças com baixo peso ao nascer. Cerca de um quarto das crianças tinham peso maior que 2.500g e a asfixia intraparto foi a principal causa de óbito neste grupo. A causa anteparto contribuiu com 30% dos óbitos e 25% destas crianças tinham peso maior que 2.500g. Observou-se ainda a ocorrência de óbitos perinatais fora do hospital e óbitos de crianças cujas mães chegaram à maternidade já em período expulsivo. Cerca de 40% dos óbitos perinatais e 60% dos óbitos neonatais poderiam ter sido evitados. Estas mortes precoces sugerem falhas na assistência à gestante e ao recém-nascido no município, tanto no atendimento clínico como na organização da rede assistencial, sendo necessário avançar na qualificação e responsabilização dos serviços e do sistema de saúde como um todo sobre esta população.
The perinatal mortality rate is still high in Belo Horizonte. This study investigated all 826 perinatal deaths taking place in 1999, focusing on the possibility of their prevention, using the ...Wigglesworth classification. The perinatal mortality rate was 20.2 per one thousand births, and the risk of perinatal death was 20 times higher in children with low birthweight. Some 24.6% of the children weighed more than 2,500g, and the main cause of death in this group was asphyxia during labor. The antepartum cause of death contributed to 30% of all deaths, and 25% of these children weighed more than 2,500g. Some deaths occurred out of hospital, and in some cases the mother arrived at hospital in end-stage labor. About 40% of all perinatal deaths or 60% of all early neonatal deaths could have been prevented, suggesting flaws in prenatal, intrapartum, and neonatal care at both the clinical and health-care organizational levels. To intervene in this situation, progress is needed in improving quality of care and ensuring accountability in the specific health services and the health care system as a whole.