Trends, patterns and cause-specific determinant of perinatal mortality at geita regional referral hospital in Tanzania: a hospital-based retrospective study

Background: Perinatal mortality is a sensitive issue that concerns the lives of newborn babies worldwide. In Tanzania, the perinatal mortality rate is high, it accounted for 38/1000 live births in 2022. Objective: A study titled; Patterns, Trends, and Specific Determinants of Perinatal Mortality was conducted at Geita Regional Referral Hospital in 2023/24. Results: The study found that several factors were significantly associated with perinatal deaths, including premature complications, severe birth asphyxia, unknown factors, neonatal sepsis, aspiration pneumonia, anemia in pregnancy, eclampsia, pre-eclampsia and malaria in pregnancy. Recommendation: The study recommended several measures, including using Community Health Care workers and FHCWs to offer health education on focused antenatal care and safe motherhood, improving ANC clinics, providing proper management, increased allocation of human resources, and allowing trained nurses or anesthetists to perform cesarian sections. Pregnant women should also be alerted about their subsequent visit/appointment. Motivations, coating folic acid tablets and combining them with anti-emetics to become user-friendly, additionally, traditional medicine labs should take samples of local herbs used by pregnant mothers to detect their chemical compositions and provide advice accordingly. In conclusion: Reducing perinatal mortality in the Geita region requires a multisectoral approach and more investment to save the lives of many newborn babies.