Perinatal mortality in Saudi Arabia: A six year study

Summary

One of the major goals in perinatal practice is to achieve the lowest possible mortality. We reviewed 312 perinatal deaths in the King Fahd Hospital, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, during a six year period. The study revealed a perinatal mortality ratio of 13–7/1000 births. In the patients who had no antenatal care, the perinatal mortality rate was 20–8/1000 compared with 13–3/1000 in booked patients. Amongst the normally formed babies, low birth weight was the commonest association with perinatal loss (26–29%-) followed by the consequences of maternal diseases (12–8%). The cause of death was unknown in 19–5′7c of mature babies who died. Unbooked patients are responsible for 70–5% of the total perinatal deaths. Perinatal mortality can only be reduced once those patients realise the importance of antenatal care.