SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINANTS AND CAUSES OF STILLBIRTHS

Introduction-Stillbirth creates difcult situation for the Obstetrician and results in great psychological and emotional trauma to the couple. It reects the suboptimum quality of maternal and child health services. Study was carried out to nd out the causes of stillbirths and the socio demographic prole of women, who had stillbirth. Material And Methods -Aclinical observational study of 7994 deliveries and 262 stillbirths was undertaken at tertiary care hospital over a period of 10 months from January 2020 to October 2020. Results- Stillbirth rate was 33.30/thousand births. Lack of antenatal care (78%),low socioeconomic status(66%)were commonly associated with stillbirths. Pregnancy induced hypertension (25%), ante-partum haemorrhage (12%), cord related accidents (8%)and preterm labour (24%) were mainly responsible for stillbirths. Conclusion-Early recognition of high risk factors, regular antenatal checkup. Ultrasonograpy to diagnose cord abnormalities, use of intrapartum electronic fetal monitoring, partograph and prevention of prolongation of second stage of labour will help in reduction of fresh stillbirths.