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
. 2022 Jun 6:3:801092.
doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2022.801092. eCollection 2022.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Preterm Birth Among Pregnant Women Admitted at the Labor Ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Enoch Odame Anto  1   2 , Wina Ivy Ofori Boadu  1 , Stephen Opoku  1 , Ebenezer Senu  1 , Valentine Christian Kodzo Tsatsu Tamakloe  1 , Augustine Tawiah  3 , Frank Ankobea  3 , Emmanuel Acheampong  2   4 , Agartha Odame Anto  5 , Michael Appiah  6 , Yaw Amo Wiafe  1 , Max Efui Annani-Akollor  4 , Christian Obirikorang  4 , Otchere Addai-Mensah  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Preterm Birth Among Pregnant Women Admitted at the Labor Ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Enoch Odame Anto et al. Front Glob Womens Health. .

Abstract

Preterm birth is a global epidemic and a leading cause of neonatal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated the prevalence and risk factors of preterm birth among women attending the labor ward for delivery at a tertiary hospital in Ghana. This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among a cohort of 209 pregnant women admitted to the labor ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Pregnant women who delivered between 28 and 36 completed weeks of gestation were classified as preterm delivery whereas those who delivered after 37-42 completed weeks were described as term. Sociodemographic, clinical, and obstetric data were collected from patient's folder and hospital archives. Categorical variables were analyzed and expressed as frequencies and proportions. We determined the association between obstetric factors and preterm delivery with multiple logistic regressions. Significance level of the strength of association was determined at p-value < 0.05. of the 209 participants, the prevalence of preterm birth was 37.3% (78/209) whereas 62.7% (131/209) delivered at Term. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) [aOR = 2.15, 95% CI = (1.819.55), p = 0.0390], HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count) syndrome [aOR = 3.94, 95% CI = (1.64-9.48), p = 0.0020], early gestational obesity [aOR = 2.11, 95% CI = (1.31-11.92), p = 0.0480] and preeclampsia [aOR = 4.56, 95% CI = (1.63-12.76), p = 0.004] were identified as independent risk factors of preterm birth. Prevalence of preterm birth was high among women attending labor admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and this was independently influenced by IUGR, HELLP syndrome, early gestational obesity, and preeclampsia. Identifying early signs of adverse pregnancy outcomes would inform the need for management policy to prevent high prevalence of preterm births.

Keywords: Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital; adverse pregnancy outcomes; labor ward; preterm birth; prevalence; risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of preterm birth among study participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Blencowe H, Cousens S, Oestergaard MZ, Chou D, Moller A-B, Narwal R, et al. . National, regional, and worldwide estimates of preterm birth rates in the year 2010 with time trends since 1990 for selected countries: a systematic analysis and implications. Lancet. (2012) 379:2162–72. 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60820-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Prentki T. Save the children? –change the world. Res Drama Educ. (2003) 8:39–53. 10.1080/13569780308319 - DOI
    1. Goldenberg RL, Gravett MG, Iams J, Papageorghiou AT, Waller SA, Kramer M, et al. . The preterm birth syndrome: issues to consider in creating a classification system. Am J Obstet Gynecol. (2012) 206:113–8. 10.1016/j.ajog.2011.10.865 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Katz J, Lee AC, Kozuki N, Lawn JE, Cousens S, Blencowe H, et al. . Mortality risk in preterm and small-for-gestational-age infants in low-income and middle-income countries: a pooled country analysis. Lancet. (2013) 382:417–25. 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60993-9 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Menon R. Spontaneous preterm birth, a clinical dilemma: etiologic, pathophysiologic and genetic heterogeneities and racial disparity. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. (2008) 87:590–600. 10.1080/00016340802005126 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources