Determinants of stillbirth in the Five General Hospitals of Lusaka, Zambia: A Case-Control study

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to assess determinants of stillbirths among women who delivered from the five general hospitals of Lusaka city, Zambia.

Methods: We conducted an unmatched case-control study. Cases were consecutively enrolled, and controls were randomly selected within 24 hours of occurrence of a case. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, and multiple regression was used to assess determinants of stillbirths. A p-value of <0.05 was considered sufficient evidence of an association between stillbirth and independent variables.

Results: A total of 58 cases and 232 controls were included in the analysis. Compared with women who delivered babies with birth weight <2500 grams, the risk of stillbirth for women who had babies with birth weight ≥2500 was higher (AOR= 4.49; 95% CI: 2.84 – 8.99); antepartum haemorrhage (AOR = 3.18; 95% CI: 1.21 – 8.09); previous experience of stillbirth (AOR=3.99; 95% CI: 1.73 – 6.73) compared with their counterparts without. Additionally, women with parity > 2 (AOR = 3.02; 95% CI: 1.07 – 7.54) had higher odds of stillbirth compared to those with parity ≤ 2.

Conclusion: Birth weight ≥2.5 kg, antepartum haemorrhage, previous stillbirth were determinants of stillbirth. Program implementers should consider strategies that can mitigate these determinants to reduce stillbirth.