Interventions to Reduce Perinatal Mortality Burden in Health Facilities in Mukono District

Summary

Mukono district in Uganda continues to experience a significant burden of perinatal deaths despite official statistics indicating rates near global targets. The perinatal mortality rate in health facilities ranges from 10 to 38.8 deaths per 1000 births, with stillbirths and early neonatal deaths driven by intrapartum complications, infections, respiratory disorders, low birth weight, prematurity, and maternal sickness. This evidence brief synthesizes research on interventions to reduce perinatal mortality in district health facilities. Antepartum interventions focus on early risk identification through strengthening antenatal care, folic acid supplementation, and fetal monitoring. Intrapartum interventions emphasize effective labor monitoring, adherence to care around delivery practices, and newborn vaccination. To reduce perinatal deaths, it is crucial to improve antenatal care quality, increase awareness among pregnant women, empower health workers for timely maternal and fetal monitoring, and ensure adherence to care around delivery practices. Targeting these risk factors can significantly reduce perinatal mortality in Mukono district health facilities.

Policy message

➢The high incidence of perinatal mortality in health facilities is largely driven by intrapartum complications, infections, respiratory disorders, low birth weight, prematurity, and maternal sickness. ➢Antepartum interventions focus on risk factor identification for the prevention of fresh stillbirths. ➢Intrapartum interventions focus on labor monitoring and effective labor management for the safe delivery of babies to prevent macerated stillbirths and early neonatal deaths. ➢To reduce the burden of perinatal deaths in Mukono, it is crucial to improve the quality of antenatal care, promote timely and consistent maternal and foetal monitoring, and emphasize adherence to care around delivery practices during delivery

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