Stillbirth Rates in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana

摘要

The study estimated the stillbirth rates in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana over a five year period (from January, 2009 to June, 2013). It then investigated as to whether or not these rates significantly varied according to types and hospitals respectively. The study revealed that the average monthly number of births and stillbirths in the metropolis over the period were 580 and 13.92 respectively whilst the average number of macerated stillbirth and fresh stillbirth were 8.735 and 5.185 respectively. On the average, the highest number of births and still births were recorded in October and November respectively. Also there were no significant differences in the number of macerated and fresh stillbirths recorded over the period. The stillbirth rate for the metropolis from 2009 to 2011 ranged between 25.01per 1000 births and 25.52per 1000 births with a decline in these rates for 2012 (22.86 per 1000 births) and 2013 (21.91 per 1000 births). There were however significant differences in the total number of stillbirths recorded at the various hospitals in the metropolis over the period with Tamale central and Tamale teaching hospitals recording the lowest and highest the stillbirth rates respectively.