Newborn mortality in 2007 and 2008 in a tertiary-level care center

Background. Mortality is a sensitive and specific indicator for determining the health status of a country in order to implement improvement strategies. It is the result of biological, social, economic and health factors. We undertook this study to determine general neonatal mortality and its relationship with weight and gestational age at a third-level health institution from 2007 to 2008. Methods. We analyzed all patients > 22 weeks of gestational age from the perinatal mortality service. Statistical analysis was done using measures of central tendency and dispersion for quantitative variables and chi(2), percentage and frequency for qualitative variables; odds ratios were calculated with significance level <= 0.05. Results. The mortality rate for 2007 was 17.7 per 1000 live births, and for 2008 it was 19.7 per 1000 live births. When we compared both years, we did not find an increased risk for weight and gestational age. Malformations occupied the highest causes of death. Conclusions. For years 2007 and 2008, mortality rates were 17.7 and 19.7 per 1000 live births, respectively, and the main cause of deaths was cardiac malformations.