TY  - JOUR
T1  - Determinants of Intrauterine Fetal Death among Unbooked Paturients at the University of
Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Southern Nigeria
AU - Kasso, Terhemen AU - Jeremiah, Israel AU - Omoikhefe Alegbeleye, Justina 
JO  - International Journal of Tropical Medicine
VL  - 15
IS  - 2
SP  - 6
EP  - 10
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1816-3319
DO  - ijtmed.2020.6.10
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=ijtmed.2020.6.10
KW  - Port Harcourt
KW  -unbooked
KW  -Intra uterine fetal death
KW  -Nigeria
KW  -risk factors
AB  - The death of the fetus in-utero can leave both
the mother and the attending clinician devastated. Most
intrapartum deaths in developing countries are due to
causes that are largely preventable. The situation is worse
in the unbooked patient who had no access to skilled
attendance. To determine the prevalence and risk factors
of intrauterine fetal death among unbooked parturient at
the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. A
retrospective study of 344 unbooked women with
intrauterine fetal death who presented at the labour ward
of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital
between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2015. Data
was obtained from their case/theater records and ward
registers, encoded into a spreadsheet and analyzed
using SPSS 22.0. Results were presented as means, rates
and proportions. Associations between variables were
assessed using students t-test and Pearson’s correlation.
Differences were considered statistically significant at
p	<0.05. There were 12,421 deliveries. Of these, 10,136
(81.6%) received antenatal care while 2,285 (18.4%) did
not. There was a total of 1,313 perinatal deaths, giving a
perinatal mortality rate of 60.9/1000 births in unbooked
patients and 18.4/1000 births in booked patients (p	<0.01).
Majority 149 (43.3%) of the IUFD occurred below
37 weeks gestation and 123 (35.8%) at term. Intrauterine
fetal death occurred prior to presentation in 320 (93%) of
the patients. This was statistically significant at p	<0.01.
Most of the women were referred from traditional birth
attendants and religious institutions. Hypertensive
disorders, abruption placentae, obstructed labour,
prolonged pregnancy and Prolonged Rupture of
Membranes (PROM) with chorioamnionitis were the most
common complications associated with intrauterine fetal
death. The leading cause of IUFD were hypertensive
disorders, abruption placentae and obstructed labour.
Women should be encouraged to register for antenatalcare
and deliver in health facilities with skilled attendants.
ER  -