Perinatal mortality in Nigeria: do place of delivery and delivery assistants matter?

Oji S Oti, University of Witwatersrand
Clifford O. Odimegwu, University of the Witwatersrand

Background: Previous studies have found place of delivery (POD) and delivery assistants (DA) to be associated with the risk of perinatal mortality. This study aims to determine the extent to which these two factors predict perinatal mortality in the Nigerian context in order to inform maternal and child health policy decisions. Methods: This study uses cross sectional design through secondary analysis of the 2003 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association of the two main variables of interest, and other known risk factors, with perinatal mortality. Results: 5783 live singleton births were analyzed with 194 perinatal deaths giving an estimated perinatal mortality rate (PNMR) of 72.4 per 1000 live births. The results show that neither POD nor DA were significantly associated with perinatal mortality in Nigeria. However, low birth size and female gender were both strongly associated with perinatal mortality.