Premium
Perinatal deaths: relevance of Wigglesworth's classification
Author(s) -
Raghuveer Geetha
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3016.1992.tb00743.x
Subject(s) - medicine , case fatality rate , asphyxia , perinatal mortality , pediatrics , infant mortality , perinatal asphyxia , demography , obstetrics , pregnancy , environmental health , population , fetus , sociology , biology , genetics
Summary. Out of a total of 4572 births over a period of 16 months occurring at St Philomena's Hospital, Bangalore, India, which has level II nursery facilities, there were 196 perinatal deaths. Perinatal mortality was 42.9/1000 total births. Case fatality rate was 12.4% for those born with a birthweight between 1501 to 2000 g, 35.5% for those between 1001 to 1500 g and 100% for those less than 1001 g. These deaths were grouped according to Wigglesworth's classification: 20% were due to prematurity and 24% to birth asphyxia. These two categories contributed to almost half of the perinatal deaths. Classification of perinatal deaths using Wigglesworth's classification appeared to be a practical and problemoriented system. It also carried clear implications for improving perinatal care. The adoption of this method of classification by all major hospitals is recommended so that easy comparisons can be drawn over time and between different centres.