Stillbirths and first week deaths in Saudi Arabia: causes and prevention

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Abstract
Summary Perinatal deaths in single births that occurred among 12499 Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital patients delivered during the 5 year period between 1979 and 1983 were investigated by case record analysis. An extended version of the Aberdeen classification was used. Out of 208 single perinatal deaths, 62 were due to fetal abnormality, which was in 17 cases malformation of the central nervous system. The largest single cause of death was congenital anomalies, followed by low birth weight in normally formed babies whose mothers had no complication of pregnancy. No death was attributed to rhesus incompatibility. Maternal diabetes was not a major cause of perinatal loss. The perinatal mortality rate has fallen to nearly half its former level. This is largely due to a reduction in first week neonatal deaths; the stillbirth rate is variable but not obviously decreasing. The total perinatal death rate is now comparable to that reported in developed countries.

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