The effect of intrauterine development and nutritional status on perinatal mortality.

OBJECTIVE

To study the influence of bodily development and nutritional status on perinatal mortality.

METHODS

The authors developed a new method, the MDN system (MDN: Maturity, Development, Nutritional Status), to determine the development and nutritional status of newborns based on their weight and length standard positions. Using data of 680,947 neonates born in the 7 years from 1997 to 2003 in Hungary, they computed the perinatal mortality (PM) rate of each developmental groups of neonates.

RESULTS

PM in the group of neonates of absolute average development was 7 per thousand, 30 per thousand in the proportionally retarded group and it was 90 per thousand in the extremely overnourished group. The PM rate was the highest (191 per thousand) in the extremely undernourished group.

CONCLUSIONS

Both bodily development and nourishment have a major impact on PM. The MDN system is a suitable method to differentiate the most endangered groups of neonates based on their development and nutritional status.