An Analysis of Still-births from a Busy Cottage Hospital using the Re-Code Classification

Abstract

Background: To describe trends in stillbirths over five-year, identify and classify the associated causes of stillbirth using the ReCoDe classification, and highlight the factors that determined the rates and trends. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed and classified all stillbirths that occurred at the Obio Cottage hospital over five-year from January 2014 to December 2018 using the ReCoDe template. Results: A total of 209 stillbirths and 17,857 births giving an average stillbirth rate of 11.70/1000 births during the five-year review period. The yearly stillbirth rates showed a progressive decline from 17.49/1000 births in 2014 to a remarkable 6.6/1000 births in 2018. The cause of death for 67.9% of stillbirths could be classified while 32.1% could not be classified. The most common cause of death was associated with maternal factors (group F) and hypertensives disease in pregnancy was associated with stillbirths in 18.2%. Conclusion: The decline in stillbirth rates over the 5-year study period demonstrates that the SDG target of a perinatal mortality rate of 12/1000 is achievable in the country provided current efforts sustained. Hypertensive diseases in pregnancy are a major cause of stillbirths and can be reduced through close antenatal fetal surveillance and timely delivery.