A REVIEW OF CAESAREAN SECTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH PERINATAL MORTALITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN TEACHING HOSPITAL, ILORIN, NIGERIA.

Objectives: To determine the perinatal mortality rate among women who delivered through caesarean section in a tertiary health institution in Nigeria and evaluate how various social and obstetric factors influence the perinatal deaths. Methods: A review of the clinical records of patients who had caesarean section associated with perinatal death over a 5-year period in the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital was performed. Socio-demographic and obstetrics data were collected from the record of the patients and their infants for analysis. Results: During the period under review, there were 122 perinatal deaths associated with 923 caesarean sections giving perinatal mortality rate of 132 per 1000 births. Majority (86.1%) of the patients were unbooked and 77.9% had no or low level of education. Nulliparae and grandmultiparae accounted for 88 (72.1%) of the perinatal deaths. Obstructed labour was the indication for caesarean sections in 64.8% of the cases. The stillbirth and early neonatal mortality rates were 80 and 52 per 1000 respectively. Seventy eight percent of the stillbirths were identified prior to surgery. Conclusion: Perinatal mortality rate among patients who were delivered through caesarean section is still high in our center and the women were mostly unbooked, in the extremes of parity, and had no or low level of education. Preventive measures should aim at adequate female education and effective and efficient antenatal coverage.