Pregnancy outcomes at a tertiary care hospital of Karnataka, South India

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the extent of adverse pregnancy outcomes and their distributions in a tertiary care hospital of the Karnataka, South India. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Prabhakar Kore Charitable Hospital of Belgaum, Karnataka, India. This is the largest multifacility referral center of the Belgaum, Karnataka. Relevant information was scrutinized from the delivery register using structured proforma. Permission was taken from hospital authority for the conduct of study. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Percentage, mean, and standard deviation were calculated. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Totally, 1,840 pregnant women attended labor room during April to September 2012. About 4.46% pregnancies ended at abortion and 5% delivered stillbirths (SBs). Three-fifths of the pregnancies were vaginal deliveries. Almost four-fifths were emergency cesareans among all the cesareans sections. Mean weight of the newborns was 2674 ± 51.00 gm. Low birth weight (LBW) was observed among 27.90%. Eight live births had one or other forms of congenital anomaly. Significantly, large numbers of SBs and LBW babies were born to the high-risk mothers and premature deliveries. High-risk mothers had multifold (adjusted odds ratio, 10.40) risk of delivering SBs and nearly double-fold (1.80) risk of LBW as against low-risk mothers. Conclusion: Almost one-third pregnancies resulted in adverse outcomes. Adverse outcomes could be reduced by acting on the causes of premature births and preventing the mothers from developing risk factors through effective antenatal and intrapartum care. Further research to identify the causes of premature delivery and their preventions is recommended.