Determinants of birth asphyxia among newborns in Northwest Ethiopia, 2019: case control study

Introduction: Birth asphyxia is a condition of impaired gas exchange in newborns when the Apgar score is < 7 in the first 5 min. It accounts 31.6% of all neonatal deaths, and the leading causes of neonatal mortality in Ethiopia. Identifying its determinant factors is very important to prevent the problem. Therefore, this study was aimed at identifying the determinant factors of birth asphyxia among newborns at Benishangul Gumuz region hospital. Methods and materials: The hospital-based unmatched case-control study was done from March 04 to July 16, 2019 in Benishangul Gumuz Region Hospitals. Total sample size is 275 with 69 cases and 206 controls. Newborns with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 min were taken as cases, and those with greater or equal to 7 were taken as controls. All asphyxiated newborns were enrolled as cases, where as in every three-step non- asphyxiated newborns were taken as controls. The data was entered into Epi Info 7 and exported to SPSS for analysis. Bivariable logistic regression analysis was used. Those variables with a p-value <0.05 were identified as significant determinants of birth asphyxia. Results: In the current study, anemia during pregnancy [AOR = 2.95, 95% CI: (1.02, 8.54)], no ANC visit at all [AOR = 4.26, 95% CI: (1.23,14.7)], prolapsed cord [AOR = 4.52, 95% CI: (1.3, 21)], and low birth weight [AOR = 4.1, 95% CI: (1.11, 15.36] were all determinant factors for birth asphyxia. Conclusion: and Recommendations: The identified determinants of birth asphyxia were anemia during pregnancy, no ANC visit at all, prolapsed cord, cesarean birth, and low birth weight. Based on our study, most of identified determinant factors of birth asphyxia were preventable so, policy makers, clinicians, and other stakeholders need to invest their maximum effort on prevention of birth asphyxia.