An epidemiologic investigation of newborns from obstetric departments in the central south region of China

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the birth information of newborn infants from obstetric departments in the Central South Region of China. METHODS: A retrospective investigation was carried out in 15582 newborns from obstetric departments of 23 hospitals in the Central South Region of China between January 1 and December 31 of 2005. RESULTS: The sex ratio (male/female) of neonates was 1.16∶1. The proportion of preterm infants was 8.11%. The very low birth weight infants accounted for 0.73%. The neonates born by spontaneous labor accounted for 57.52%. Cesarean sections accounted for 40.82% (social factor of cesarean section: 29.91%). The incidence of neonatal asphyxia was 3.78%, in which 0.75% of the cases were severe asphyxia. The mortality of newborn infants was 0.55%, in which the mortality of preterm infants was 5.56%. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of preterm infants and the incidence of neonatal asphyxia is high in the Central South Region of China. The proportion of births delivered by cesarean section is high, and social factors are probably responsible for the high rate.