Neonatal morbidity and mortality at Kenyatta National Hospital newborn unit.

A six month prospective study of neonatal morbidity and mortality of the newborn unit (NBU) at Kenyatta National Hospital is presented. Of the 126 infants delivered in the maternity unit, 967 (30%) ended up in the NBU and 562 (59.8%) were low birth weight (LBW); 79.3% were appropriate for gestational age (AGA), 19.9% were small for gestational age (SGA) while 1.8% were large for gestational age (LGA). The infants with birth weight of < 1500 g and gestation < 32 weeks had the worst prognosis with a mortality of 51.3% and 64.6% respectively. The major causes of morbidity and mortality were immaturity, respiratory distress, infections and perinatal asphyxia. The majority of the deaths (86.8%) occurred within the first week of life. The overall neonatal mortality for this period was 24.6%, but 95.6% of the deaths were preterm while LBW in general contributed to 93.5% of the deaths.