Abstract

PIP: A communitywide prospective survey was conducted in the urban slums of Gorakhpur, to elicit information on factors contributing to India's high rate of neonatal mortality. Neonatal mortality accounts for more than 50% of total infant mortality in India. To successfully reduce infant mortality to 60/1000 live births, more information is needed on the contribution of prematurity, low birth weight, infections, respiratory distress, birth asphyxia, hyperbilirubinemia, birth injury, congenital malformation, and other determinant factors of neonatal morbidity and mortality, especially in urban slums. Compared with the standards of more developed countries, high levels of neonatal morbidity and mortality were found with the main causes being infections and respiratory distress. Neonatal mortality was found to bear an inverse relationship with birth weight and gestational age. Higher mortality rates were observed in institutional deliveries, despite the fact that the overall majority of mortality occurred in the home. Neonatal mortality was found to be significantly higher (p.001) in home deliveries conducted by untrained dais. Proper training of traditional dais and paramedical workers would minimize the extent of these deaths.