Abstract
Background: According to the WHO, three million babies are estimated to die in the early neonatal period, while 2.6 million are still born annually worldwide. Due to the lack of such information regarding the perinatal mortality rate in Saudi hospitals, we aimed in our study to identify the perinatal mortality rate in Hail Maternity and Children Hospital and to find the underlying causes and risk factors. Methods: We conducted a hospital-based retrospective analytic study which includes the whole perinatal deaths in Hail Maternity and Children Hospital, from 1st of January to 31st of December 2019. Results: Perinatal deaths were 164 (64 still births and 100 early neonatal deaths). Perinatal mortality rate was 24.9/1000 (SBR: 9.72/1000, END rate: 15.18/1000). The most identifiable cause of perinatal mortality in our study was IUGR (26.83%) followed by unexplained death. Conclusion: The perinatal mortality rate at Hail Maternity and Children Hospital was 24.9/1000 by 2019 in which IUGR was the most distinguishable cause, followed by unexplained death. Due to the lack of such a study in this hospital, we couldn't find if our results considered as an improvement or deterioration of PMR comparing with past years.