Perinatal Death Pattern in the Four Districts of Thailand: Findings from the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC)
Ladda Mo-suwan MD*, Sirikul Isaranurug MD**, Prasin Chanvitan MD*, Waraporn Techasena MD***, Sumitr Sutra MD****, Chanyut Supakunpinyo MD****, Chanpen Choprapawon MD*****
Affiliation : * Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand ** ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand *** Nan Hospital, Nan, Thailand **** Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand ***** The Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : To determine the magnitude and investigate causes of perinatal deaths of a cohort of the Prospective
Cohort Study of Thai Children.
Material and Method: A semi-structured verbal autopsy questionnaire and review of medical records were
used to ascertain the causes of deaths during the perinatal period in four districts of Thailand.
Results : The total numbers of 3,522 babies (with 28 pairs of twins) were born from 3,494 pregnant women. The
perinatal mortality rate was 10.69 per 1,000 total births, the stillbirth rate was 6.75 per 1,000 births, and the
early neonatal mortality rate was 3.97 per 1,000 live-births. About 37.8% of the perinatal deaths were agreed
to by two pediatricians and a neonatologist as preventable. About 90% of the preventable stillbirths occurred
in the antepartum period.
Conclusion : Findings from the present study indicates that to further reduce the perinatal death rate, attention
should be focused on reducing the stillbirths by a quality antenatal care.
Keywords : Cohort studies, Fetal death, Perinatal mortality, Prospective studies, Stillbirth
