Clinical Audit of Stillbirths at a Faith-Based Secondary Health Centre in Ibadan, Nigeria: A Six-Year Review

Abstract

Objective: The determine the prevalence of stillbirth and identify associated factors among pregnant women.

Method: This was a retrospective audit of two hundred and twenty-five stillbirth deliveries at Our lady of Apostle, Catholic Hospital, Oluyoro, Oke-Offa, Ibadan, Nigeria, between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2018. Data was extracted from hospital records for socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric factors, complications, and outcomes of pregnancy. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20 and the level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: The stillbirth rate was 27.75 per 1000 births. More than half (129; 57.4%) were macerated. The ratio of stillbirth rate among the booked and unbooked parturients was 1:21. The common causes of stillbirths were hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (24.9%) and anaemia in pregnancy (20.4%) while the least were congenital anomalies (1.0%) and gestational diabetes mellitus (1.0%).

Conclusion: This study confirmed that most of the stillbirths were due to unsupervised or poorly supervised pregnancies. There is need to ensure quality antenatal care services for the early detection and management of risk factors in order to reduce the burden of stillbirths.