Determinants of Infant Mortality in Southeast Nigeria: Results from the Healthy Beginning Initiative, 2013-2014

Authors

  • Samantha A. Slinkard University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences. 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
  • Jennifer R. ​ Pharr University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences. 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
  • Tamara Bruno University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences. 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
  • Dina Patel University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences. 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
  • Amaka Ogidi Research Resource Centre, University of Nigeria, Enugu, College of Medicine. University Road, 410001, Nsukka, Enugu State, NIGERIA
  • Michael Obiefune Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine. 655 W. Balitimore St, Balitimore, MD 21201, USA
  • Echezona E. Ezeanolue University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences. 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21106/ijma.229

Keywords:

  • Infant Mortality,
  • Neonatal Mortality,
  • HIV Antenatal Care,
  • Nigeria,
  • Healthy Beginning Initiative

Abstract

Background: Neonatal mortality due to preventable factors occurs at high rates throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Community-based interventions increase opportunities for prenatal screening and access to antenatal care services (ANC) services. The Healthy Beginning Initiative (HBI) provided congregation-based prenatal screening and health counseling for 3,047 women in Enugu State. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants for infant mortality among this cohort.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of post-delivery outcomes at 40 churches in Enugu State, Nigeria between 2013 and 2014. Risk factors for infant mortality were assessed using chi square, odds ratios, and multiple logistic regression.

Results: There were 2,436 live births from the 2,379 women who delivered (55 sets of twins and one set of triplets), and 99 cases of neonatal/early postneonatal mortality. The neonatal mortality rate was 40.6 per 1,000 live births. Risk factors associated with neonatal mortality were lack of access to ANC services [OR= 8.81], maternal mortality [OR= 15.28], caesarian section [OR= 2.47], syphilis infection [OR= 6.46], HIV-positive status [OR= 3.87], and preterm birth [OR= 14.14].

Conclusions and Global Health Implications: These results signify that culturally-acceptable community-based interventions targeted to increase access to ANC services, post-delivery services for preterm births, and HIV and syphilis screening for expectant mothers are needed to reduce infant mortality in resource-limited settings.

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Published

2018-06-03
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How to Cite

Slinkard, S. A., Pharr, J. R. ​, Bruno, T., Patel, D., Ogidi, A., Obiefune, M., & Ezeanolue, E. E. (2018). Determinants of Infant Mortality in Southeast Nigeria: Results from the Healthy Beginning Initiative, 2013-2014. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS, 7(1), 165–172. https://doi.org/10.21106/ijma.229

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Copyright © 2018 Samantha A. Slinkard, Jennifer R. ​ Pharr, Tamara Bruno, Dina Patel, Amaka Ogidi, Michael Obiefune, Echezona E. Ezeanolue. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc., USA.

Creative Commons License

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , which permits others to remix, transform, and build upon the work non-commercially, provided the original author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the same terms.