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A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series

Background: South Africa aims to end all preventable deaths of children under the age of five as part of their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. More than half of these mortalities occur in the neonatal period with perinatal asphyxia as one of the leading causes. This study investigat...

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Main Author: Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan
Other Authors: Spittal, Graeme W
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Public Health and Family Medicine 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan
author2 Spittal, Graeme W
author_browse Spittal, Graeme W
Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan
author_facet Spittal, Graeme W
Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan
author_sort Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan
collection Thesis
description Background: South Africa aims to end all preventable deaths of children under the age of five as part of their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. More than half of these mortalities occur in the neonatal period with perinatal asphyxia as one of the leading causes. This study investigated and identified the characteristics of perinatal asphyxia and its contributing factors at a district hospital in Cape Town. Methods: A retrospective descriptive case series was performed and included all suspected cases of perinatal asphyxia referred from Mitchells Plain District Hospital (MPH)) to a specialised centre in the years 2016-2018. A data collection tool was used to extract information. Data was processed with SPSS to produce descriptive statistics and to investigate associations between variables using the Chi-square tests. Results: The study included 29 cases of suspected perinatal asphyxia. Ten (34.5%) had abnormal amplitude Electroencephalograms (aEEG's) indicative of Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and four (13.8%) demised before day seven of life. Non-operative deliveries (p=0.005), lack of a doctor at the time of delivery (p=0.004) and neonatal chest compressions (p=0.044) were associated with abnormal aEEG's. Babies with Thompson score of equal to or more than 12 (p=0.006), neonatal seizures (p=0.036) and delayed arrival at referral hospital (p=0.005) were associated with abnormal aEEG findings. Mortality was associated with Thompson score ≥12 (p=0.007) and the need for neonatal intubation at delivery (p=0.016). Conclusions: Significant reversable factors were identified in the peri-and postpartum periods. More capacitated staff would have the greatest impact on outcomes. The profile of HIE is exceedingly complex and challenges the resources and services of district level of care. Therefore, these factors should be targeted for future development and investment to improve outcomes from district hospitals.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:37.077Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Department of Public Health and Family Medicine
publisherStr Department of Public Health and Family Medicine
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36172 A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan Spittal, Graeme W Hinkel, T Ras, Tasleem Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy Perinatal Asphyxia Perinatal Care District Healthcare Quality of Care Background: South Africa aims to end all preventable deaths of children under the age of five as part of their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. More than half of these mortalities occur in the neonatal period with perinatal asphyxia as one of the leading causes. This study investigated and identified the characteristics of perinatal asphyxia and its contributing factors at a district hospital in Cape Town. Methods: A retrospective descriptive case series was performed and included all suspected cases of perinatal asphyxia referred from Mitchells Plain District Hospital (MPH)) to a specialised centre in the years 2016-2018. A data collection tool was used to extract information. Data was processed with SPSS to produce descriptive statistics and to investigate associations between variables using the Chi-square tests. Results: The study included 29 cases of suspected perinatal asphyxia. Ten (34.5%) had abnormal amplitude Electroencephalograms (aEEG's) indicative of Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and four (13.8%) demised before day seven of life. Non-operative deliveries (p=0.005), lack of a doctor at the time of delivery (p=0.004) and neonatal chest compressions (p=0.044) were associated with abnormal aEEG's. Babies with Thompson score of equal to or more than 12 (p=0.006), neonatal seizures (p=0.036) and delayed arrival at referral hospital (p=0.005) were associated with abnormal aEEG findings. Mortality was associated with Thompson score ≥12 (p=0.007) and the need for neonatal intubation at delivery (p=0.016). Conclusions: Significant reversable factors were identified in the peri-and postpartum periods. More capacitated staff would have the greatest impact on outcomes. The profile of HIE is exceedingly complex and challenges the resources and services of district level of care. Therefore, these factors should be targeted for future development and investment to improve outcomes from district hospitals. 2022-03-17T11:23:52Z 2022-03-17T11:23:52Z 2021 2022-03-16T09:33:41Z Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36172 eng application/pdf Department of Public Health and Family Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy
Perinatal Asphyxia
Perinatal Care
District Healthcare
Quality of Care
Stofberg, Johannes Petrus Jordaan
A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series
title_full A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series
title_fullStr A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series
title_full_unstemmed A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series
title_short A descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at Mitchells Plain District Hospital. A case series
title_sort descriptive study of suspected perinatal asphyxia at mitchells plain district hospital a case series
topic Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy
Perinatal Asphyxia
Perinatal Care
District Healthcare
Quality of Care
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36172
work_keys_str_mv AT stofbergjohannespetrusjordaan adescriptivestudyofsuspectedperinatalasphyxiaatmitchellsplaindistricthospitalacaseseries
AT stofbergjohannespetrusjordaan descriptivestudyofsuspectedperinatalasphyxiaatmitchellsplaindistricthospitalacaseseries