Implication of Different Levels of Placental Insufficiency in Predicting Perinatal Outcome

Background: Placental insufficiency occurs when the placenta undergoes malfunctioning and cannot supply adequate oxygen and nutrients to the foetus, thus causing unfavourable effects. This study aimed to assess the perinatal outcomes in neonates born to mothers diagnosed with placenta insufficiency in the absence of comorbidities. Methods: After the ethical approval from the institutional committee, the cross-sectional study was carried out at Combined military Hospital Abbottabad from 1st January 2024 to 31st March 2024. Through non-probability consecutive sampling, 80 singleton pregnant women between 36 and 41 weeks were included . Women with twins, essential hypertension, pregnancy-induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, severe anaemia, foetus with congenital abnormalities were excluded from the study. Demographic and clinical variables of all the participants were collected through the pre-designed proforma. The primary outcomes focused on the rates of IUD, stillbirth, and ENND. Data was analysed using SPSS version 26. Results: The Majority of the perinatal (50%) 6 and antenatal (33.3%) 4 deaths were observed in the neonates born after 40 weeks of gestation age. The study found that 34% (13) of pregnancies had severe unfavourable results (" antenatal outcome-1"), 28%(9) of pregnancies had adverse labor outcomes (" labor outcome-2"), and 38%(12) of pregnancies had adverse newborn outcomes (" adverse neonatal outcome-3"). Conclusion: Perinatal hypoxia-related events are common in newborns with low birth weights but can occur across all birth weights. Most are due to diminished placental function, necessitating additional diagnostic methods to detect placental malfunction during late pregnancy.