Abstract:

Background: Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death in children under 5 years and contribute approximately to 1 million neonatal deaths annually. A number of factors have been associated with preterm birth complications. This study aimed at determining the factors that influence the outcomes of preterm births at Bugando medical centre.

Methodology: This was a hospital-based retrospective study that that involved reviewing medical files of preterm born between January 2018 and December 2020. Among the factors studied were gestation age at delivery, antenatal screening, antenatal supplements and antenatal intervention on pregnant mothers.

Results: A total of 240 medical files were reviewed from medical records. The mean maternal age was 29.17 ± 5.16 years and more than one third of cases were referral from lower level hospitals. The most frequent outcome of preterm birth was RDS (87.5%) followed by mortality (42%) and neonatal sepsis (21.6%) Association of factors to the outcome of premature babies was obtained.

Conclusion: Various factors such as gestation age at delivery, antenatal screening, antenatal supplements and antenatal intervention were found to influence on outcomes of premature birth at Bugando medical centre. Among the fetal complications, RDS was the most frequent followed by mortality. There is a need to understand the socio-economic factors that influence the outcomes of premature births at Bugando medical centre.