Research Article
Tilahun Mekonnen, Tsehay Tenu,
Abstract
Background: Neonatal death is loss of the newborn with in the first twenty eight days of life. In many societies, neonatal deaths and stillbirths are not perceived as a problem, largely because they are very common. However, it is remains untold grief for the mother especially in developing countries likes Ethiopia where its magnitude is very high. Because of the high magnitude of the problem and its direct linkage with the quality of health services during pregnancy, peripartum and in the first month of the neonates’ life, neonatal mortality rate are used as an important indicators of the health status of a country. Therefore, this study will have a role in fighting against neonatal death through gathering information about neonatal death and its possible causes in the study area. Objective: The main objective of this study is to assess neonatal deaths and its causes in neonatal intensive care unit of Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital, Bench Maji Zone, South-West Ethiopia, 2018. Method: Institution based cross sectional study was done from June25 to July 20, 2018. The registration book of admitted neonate was reviewed by using checklist to collect data. Data was analyzed manually and presented in text, frequencies, tables, and percentages. Result: According to the records from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 1316 neonates were admitted in the last three years. Among these admitted neonates, 300 died due to different reasons. Out of the deaths, 180 were male and 120 were females. From all deaths 93 (31%) of them were those who delivered prematurely, 89 (29.7%) were those admitted for diagnosis of sepsis and 46 (15.3%) were those admitted due to low birth weight. Conclusion and recommendation: 300 death of neonates occurred in Neonatal Intensive care unit of Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital since the service started. Premature, sepsis and low birth weight accounted higher percent among the causes. Health care providers of MTUTH working on maternal health care service delivery and NICU should be emphasize on educating and counseling about prevention of infection. Budget: The budget allowed for this study was 6,143.50 EB