Neonatal morbidity and mortality: report of the national neonatal and perinatal database.

This paper reports the creation of India's national neonatal-perinatal database. The database has a continuous reporting format, uniform in its definitions, and is checked and compiled at a nodal center, which is a necessity for planning and monitoring health care. Data were compiled from intramural births of 16 centers, which included neonatal morbidity and mortality data for the year 1995. Furthermore, the database comprised data on 38,592 births, 37,082 of which were live-born and 1510 stillborn. Statistics show that the incidence of low birth weight (LBW) was 32.8% and that of preterms 12.3%, while two-thirds of the LBW infants were term babies. Among institutional births, the incidence of birth asphyxia would approximate 5%, while septicemia was observed in 3.9% of intramural live births. Birth asphyxia, septicemia, and causes related to immaturity account for almost three-fourths of the neonatal deaths, a majority of which could be prevented.