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
. 2021 Aug;154(2):331-336.
doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13528. Epub 2020 Dec 29.

Association between obstetric and medical risk factors and stillbirths in a low-income urban setting

George N Gwako  1 , Moses M Obimbo  1   2 , Peter B Gichangi  2   3 , John Kinuthia  1   4 , Onesmus W Gachuno  1 , Fredrick Were  5
Affiliations

Association between obstetric and medical risk factors and stillbirths in a low-income urban setting

George N Gwako et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the association between obstetric and medical risk factors and stillbirths in a Kenyan set-up.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted in four hospitals between August 2018 and April 2019. Two hundred and fourteen women with stillbirths and 428 with live births at more than >28 weeks of gestation were enrolled. Data collection was via interviews and abstraction from medical records. Outcome variables were stillbirth and live birth; exposure variables were sociodemographic characteristics, and medical and obstetric factors. The two-sample t test and χ2 test were used to compare continuous and categorical variables respectively. The association between the exposure and outcome variable was done using logistic regression. A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Stillbirth was associated with pre-eclampsia without severe features (odds ratio [OR] 9.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6-32.5), pre-eclampsia with severe features (OR 7.4, 95% CI 2.4-22.8); eclampsia (OR 9.2, 95% CI 2.6-32.5), placenta previa (OR 8.6 95% CI 2.8-25.9), placental abruption (OR 6.9 95% CI 2.2-21.3), preterm delivery(OR 9.5, 95% CI 5.7-16), and gestational diabetes mellitus, (OR 11.5, 95% CI 2.5-52.6). Stillbirth was not associated with multiparity, anemia, and HIV.

Conclusion: Proper antepartum care and surveillance to identify and manage medical and obstetric conditions with the potential to cause stillbirth are recommended.

Keywords: low-and-middle-income countries; medical complications; obstetric complications; prenatal care; stillbirth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Blencowe H, Cousens S, Jassir FB, et al. National, regional, and worldwide estimates of stillbirth rates in 2015, with trends from 2000: a systematic analysis. Lancet Global Health. 2016;4(2):PE98–E108. 10.1016/S2214-109X(15)00275-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aminu M, Bar-Zeev S, White S, Mathai M, van den Broek N. Understanding cause of stillbirth: a prospective observational multi-country study from sub-Saharan Africa. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2019;19(1):e470. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saleem S, Tikmani SS, McClure EM, et al. Trends and determinants of stillbirth in developing countries: results from the Global Network’s Population-Based Birth Registry. Reproductive Health. 2018;15(S1). 10.1186/s12978-018-0526-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McClure EM, Saleem S, Pasha O, Goldenberg RL. Stillbirth in developing countries: a review of causes, risk factors and prevention strategies. J Matern-Fetal Neonatal Med. 2009;22(3):183–190. 10.1080/14767050802559129 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Goldenberg RL, Kirby R, Culhane JF. Stillbirth: a review. J Matern-Fetal Neonatal Med. 2004;16(2):74–94. 10.1080/14767050400003801 - DOI - PubMed