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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · AJP Rep 2020; 10(01): e78-e86
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1708491
Original Article
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Population-Based Estimation of the Preterm Birth Rate in Lilongwe, Malawi: Making Every Birth Count

Authors

  • Kathleen M. Antony 

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
    2   Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
    3   Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

  • Peter N. Kazembe

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Ryan M. Pace

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
    5   Department of Immunology, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho

  • Judy Levison

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  • Henry Phiri

    6   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Grace Chiudzu

    6   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Ronald Alan Harris

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  • Rose Chirwa

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Mary Nyondo

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Ellina Marko

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Andrew Chigayo

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Debora Nanthuru

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Bertha Banda

    4   Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Clinical Center of Excellence, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

  • Nicholas Twyman

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  • Susan M. Ramin

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
    2   Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  • Susan P. Raine

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  • Michael A. Belfort

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
    2   Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  • Kjersti M. Aagaard

    1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
    2   Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

Financial Support USAID/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenges Grant: AID-OAA-G-11–00062 (K.M.A.); E.W. Al Thrasher Foundation (K.M.A.); and NIH K12 GM084897 (R.M.P.). E.W. Al Thrasher Foundation, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, (award no.: K12 GM084897) USAID/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenges Grant (grant no.: AID-OAA-G-11-00062).
Further Information

Publication History

09 October 2019

24 January 2020

Publication Date:
09 March 2020 (online)

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Abstract

Objective The objective of this study was to perform a population-based estimation of the preterm birth (PTB) rate in regions surrounding Lilongwe, Malawi.

Study Design We partnered with obstetrician specialists, community health workers, local midwives, and clinicians in a 50 km region surrounding Lilongwe, Malawi, to perform a population-based estimation of the PTB rate during the study period from December 1, 2012 to May 19, 2015.

Results Of the 14,792 births captured, 19.3% of births were preterm, including preterm early neonatal deaths. Additional PTB risk factors were similarly prevalent including domestic violence, HIV, malaria, anemia, and malnutrition.

Conclusion When performing a population-based estimation of the rate of PTB, including women without antenatal care and women delivering at home, the 19.3% rate of PTB is among the highest recorded globally. This is accompanied by a high rate of risk factors and comorbid conditions.

Keywords

preterm birth - Malawi - global health - global - maternal health

Paper Presentation Information

Data from this paper were presented as a poster presentation at the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine's 34th Annual Meeting-The Pregnancy Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 3–8, 2014, Abstract Number 522 and the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine's 36th Annual Meeting-The Pregnancy Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, February 1 to 6, 2016, Abstract Number 403.