Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Aug 21:33:315.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2019.33.315.17979. eCollection 2019.

Prevalence of stillbirth at the Buea Regional Hospital, Fako Division south-west region, Cameroon

Nkengafac Boris Anu  1 , Claude Ngwayu Nkfusai  2   3 , Marvelle Nanyongo Mbua Evelle  1 , Liza Enanga Efande  1 , Fala Bede  3 , Joyce Shirinde  4 , Samuel Nambile Cumber  4   5   6
Affiliations

Prevalence of stillbirth at the Buea Regional Hospital, Fako Division south-west region, Cameroon

Nkengafac Boris Anu et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Introduction: The study investigated the prevalence of stillbirth at the Buea regional hospital, by taking cases of pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic(s) and those who did not attend but had their deliveries at the Buea regional hospital. The study specifically estimated the prevalence of stillbirths; identified possible risk factors associated with stillbirths, and determined whether the number of antenatal clinic visits is related to the occurrence of stillbirths-because during antenatal clinic visits, pregnant women are educated on risk factors of stillbirths such as: preterm deliveries; sex of the stillbirth; history of stillbirth; history of abortion(s); what age group of mothers are more likely to have a stillbirth.

Methods: The study was a hospital based retrospective study at the maternity in which there were 3577 deliveries registered at the Buea regional hospital dated May 1st, 2014 to April 30th, 2017. With the aid of a checklist data was collected, analysed and presented with the use of tables, pie-charts and bar charts.

Results: The prevalence of stillbirths was 26‰; possible risk factors associated with stillbirths included: preterm deliveries; women aged 20-29 years; history of abortion(s); a history of stillbirth; sex of stillbirths were more of females than males; and insufficient antenatal clinic attendance (≤1 antenatal clinic attendance) had more stillbirths.

Conclusion: The study established that stillbirths can occur in any woman of child-bearing age. possible risk factors associated with stillbirths included: preterm deliveries; women aged 20-29 years; history of abortion(s); a history of stillbirth; gender of stillbirths were more of females than males; and insufficient antenatal clinic attendance (≤1 antenatal clinic attendance) had more stillbirths.

Keywords: Cameroon; Stillbirths; abortion; antenatal clinics; deliveries; gender; meme division; prevalence; south west region.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
General characteristics
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organisation . Maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health 2016. Accessed November 2 2016.
    1. Nkwabong E, Fomulu JN, Ambassa JL. Stillbirth at University Teaching Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon. Int J Gyn & Obs. 2012 Oct;119(1):87–8. - PubMed
    1. Goldenberg RL, McClue EM, Bhutta ZA, Belizan JM, Reddy UM, et al. Stillbirth: the vision for 2020. The lancet. 2011 May 21;377(9779):1798–805. - PubMed
    1. McClure ME, Goldenberg RL. Stillbirth in Developing Countries: a review of causes, risk factors and prevention strategies. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2009 Mar;22(3):183–90. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cousens S, Blencowe H, Stanton C, Chou D, Ahmed S, Steinhardt L, et al. National, regional, and worldwide estimates of stillbirth rates in 2009 with trends since 1995: a systematic analysis. The Lancet. 2011 Apr 16;377(9774):1319–30. - PubMed