EFFECTS OF MATERNAL, FETAL AND NEONATAL PARAMETERS ON THE MORTALITY OF VLBW INFANTS ADMITTED IN NICU OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Abstract

Introduction: There has been an effort in recent times to define physiological and laboratory parameters, which would be predictive of neonatal mortality in VLBW group. The present study was aimed to analyze the effects of various maternal, fetal and neonatal parameters on the mortality of VLBW infants admitted in NICU and to find out the causes of mortality in intramural very low birth weight babies.

Methods: This is a hospital based prospective observational study from 1^st July 2019 to 30^th September 2020 at a tertiary care hospital in Surat. All intramural newborn babies who get admitted in NICU with birth weight <1500 grams were included in the study. The data was entered in MS-Excel database. All the analysis was done using the SPSS-20 software.

Results: In this study out of total 108 patients, 45(41.6%) patients were discharged, 63 (58.3%) expired. In less than 1000 grams babies, 88.8% mortality was observed. In 1401-1500g, total 13 patients in which 5 patient (38.5%) expired and 8 (61.5%) patients survived. So higher rate of survival was observed with increase in birth weight. RDS (p value 0.00), Shock (p value 0.00), sepsis (p value 0.001) and birth asphyxia (p value 0.00) are statistically significant factors contributing to neonatal mortality.

Conclusion: Common maternal risk factors predicting mortality in VLBW infants that were statistically significant observed were PIH, Meconium stained amniotic fluid, fetal distress, PROM and non-administration of 2 doses of antenatal steroids. Common fetal variables predicting mortality in VLBW that were statistically significant observed were smaller gestation age, crown heel length, head circumference and birth weight.