A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON NEONATAL BIRTH INJURIES IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL IN ANDHRA PRADESH.

Background: Birth injury is defined as the structural damage of a newborn secondary to mechanical forces (compression or traction) during labour, delivery or both. Birth injury can sometimes be avoidable, occasionally inevitable. The incidence of birth trauma varies widely among developing countries. Reported incidence ranges from 0.2 to 41.2 per 1000 live births. The incidence of birth injury has declined with improvements in obstetrical care and prenatal diagnosis. Methods: This study is a prospective observational cohort study, conducted at Narayana Medical college and hospital, Nellore. The study was conducted during the period from December 2018 to March 2021. Results: Birth Injuries recorded among boys & girls was 41.67%, 58.33% respectively. Male to female ratio was 0.8: 1.16. Majority 19 (79.16%) of the birth injuries were observed among babies with vertex presentation, followed by breech 3(12.5%), brow 1(4.17%) and Transverse(shoulder)1(4.17%) presentation. Birth injuries were common in neonates born to mothers of age between 21 - 30 yrs. Conclusions: Incidence of birth injury observed in our study was 1.926% (24 per 1246 total babies). Birth injuries were more common in babies with birth weight more than 3 kg. A majority of the babies with birth injuries were term-born, 2 were preterm. A total of 24 birth injury cases were observed. Two major risk factors for birth injuries were normal delivery & birth weight more than 3 kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]