Risk Factors Associated with Intrauterine Fetal Death at the Kalaban-Coro Reference Health Center in Mali, 2023

Background: In-utero fetal death is a public health problem associated with several factors. The main objective was to study the factors associated with in-utero fetal death at the Kalaban-Coro referral health center in 2023. Methods: This was a case-control study including 70 cases and 134 controls. The study was conducted from July 1, 2023, to November 13, 2024. The cases were patients with fetal death who were not in labor, with a gestational age ≥ 22 weeks of amenorrhea or a fetal weight ≥ 500g and with a usable obstetric record. The controls were mothers who had given birth to live babies at term. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 software. Logistic regression was performed to identify the factors. The association was considered significant when the confidence interval excluded 1. The significance threshold was 5%. We adhered to the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Results: The risk of intrauterine fetal death is five times higher in women with multiple pregnancies (aOR = 5.25; 95% IC: 1.05-26.29). This risk was 16 times higher in women who had experienced antepartum hemorrhage (aOR= 16.4; 95% IC: 1.33-202.7). The absence of prenatal care increased the risk of intrauterine fetal death by 45.37 times (aOR= 45.4; 95% IC: 2.38-866.4). Conclusion: Advanced prenatal care strategies are needed to reduce the burden of intrauterine fetal death.