THE MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF PERINATAL-MORTALITY IN A LARGE METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL - RESULTS OF A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 27  (7) , 395-400
Abstract
The records of all perinatal deaths that occurred at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York [USA], from 1975-1978 were reviewed. Perinatal mortality rate was 20/1000 births. Most potentially preventable perinatal deaths occurred in association with low birth weight. Fetal deaths that occurred prior to the onset of labor were usually associated with small-for-gestational-age (SGA) or growth-retarded fetuses; deaths occurring during labor were usually the result of trauma to the very small 3rd-trimester fetus, one weighing < 1500 g. Neonatal deaths most commonly resulted from prematurity-related complications (mainly the idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome) in appropriately grown, very-low-birth-weight fetuses, those weighing < 1500 g at birth.