Descriptive analysis of effect of uptake of comprehensive antenatal care services on neonatal mortality, Kenya

Background Antenatal care services help decrease neonatal mortality. Laboratory profiling is a highly recommended part of antenatal care services, but it is often neglected. Aims To explore the importance of comprehensive antenatal care services in reducing neonatal mortality among births at Moyale Sub-County Referral Hospital in Kenya. Methods A retrospective review was conducted of maternity records of all women aged 15 years old or more who gave birth at Moyale Sub-County Referral Hospital between June 2014 and May 2015. Stillbirths were excluded from the analysis. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and descriptive statistics calculated. A total of 1062 women were included in the study, with mean age of 24 ± 9.1 years. Of these, 11% had no antenatal care visits, 2% were HIV-positive, and all lived within 10 km of Moyale Sub-County Referral Hospital. Findings Children of women who had no antenatal care visits were 2.7 times more likely to die within 28 days of birth compared to children born to women who had 1 antenatal care visit, and 8.5 times more likely to die compared to women who had at least three antenatal care visits. Conclusions Antenatal care profiling helps reduce neonatal mortality by capturing early diagnosis of preventable conditions that affect birth outcomes.