Black babies die at higher rate

Published Apr 17, 2015

Share

Pretoria - More than 22 000 babies were stillborn to South African mothers during 2013, and statistics show that in three years including that year, most babies who did not survive the first week of life were black.

Most stillborn babies were in KwaZulu-Natal (24 percent), followed by Gauteng with 23 percent, said Statistician-General Pali Lehohla, adding the figures were indicative of the big populations of both provinces.

Perinatal deaths are the combination of foetuses born dead (stillbirths) and babies that die in the first week after birth (early neonatal deaths).

Lehohla released a report on the country’s 2011 to 2013 perinatal death trend on Thursday, in which he said Gauteng’s perinatal deaths were followed by those in the Western Cape (9.7 percent) and Limpopo (9.6 percent).

With 3 percent of total perinatal deaths, the Northern Cape had the least in 2013.

“The distribution of perinatal deaths by population group throughout the three-year period showed black Africans contributed a higher percentage of perinatal deaths each year,” he said.

More male babies have died either at birth or within the first 24 hours, or soon into their first week of life, a trend the statistician said was carried through from 1997.

 

The World Health Organisation says the perinatal period age of viability begins at 22 weeks of pregnancy for stillbirths and ended within the first seven days of life for early neonatal deaths.

The report said the highest proportion of stillbirths (foetus and newborn) was attributed to maternal factors and complications of pregnancy, labour and delivery, while the 10 leading causes of death for neonates were respiratory and cardiovascular disorders.

“Over the same period, the second leading cause of death for age groups 1-23 hours and 24-167 hours was disorders related to length of gestation and foetal growth,” it said.

Disorders related to length of gestation and foetal growth moved from fourth in 2011 and 2012 for neonates aged less than one hour to the second leading cause in 2013.

Over the three years, half the perinatal deaths occurred between 24 hours and seven days, the report said, adding that in 2013 the number of deaths before the first hour of birth decreased from 22 percent in 2011 to 2.6 percent in 2013, while early neonatal deaths between one hour of birth and 23 hours, increased from 20 percent to 34 percent.

Lehohla said perinatal deaths were an indicator of the quality of prenatal, obstetric and neonatal care.

“They provide the information needed to improve care for pregnant women, newborn babies and new mothers,” he said.

[email protected]

@ntsandvose

Pretoria News

Related Topics: