Acta Paediatr. 2021 Jul 15. doi: 10.1111/apa.16032. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To examine the factors associated with the risk of neonatal mortality following caesarean births at country-level in sub-Saharan Africa.
METHODS: We used meta-analytic procedure to synthesize the results of most recent nationally representative cross-sectional Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) datasets for 33 sub-Saharan Africa countries conducted between 2010 and 2018. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed for all countries.
RESULTS: The overall caesarean section (CS) rate was 4.9%, neonatal mortality was 2.8% and Post-CS neonatal mortality was 4.3%. The rates of CS were generally low and only 5 countries had CS rates at or above 10%. The overall pooled result showed a statistically significant increase in the odds of neonatal mortality after a caesarean section (CS) OR 1.7 (95% CI 1.53 – 1.89; I2 = 39.3%, p<0.012); such that children delivered via CS were 70% more likely not to survive beyond the first 30 days. Geographical variations existed in the measure of association between caesarean section and neonatal mortality.
CONCLUSION: This paper has provided evidence on the low rates of CS and the associated neonatal mortality risk compared to normal deliveries in sub-Saharan Africa.
PMID:34265122 | DOI:10.1111/apa.16032
