Maternal Haemoglobinopathy and Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality in a Reference Center in Abidjan

Introduction: Sickle cell disease is the most common hemoglobinopathy in the world. In Côte d’Ivoire, newborn screening is not yet popular. The objective was to describe the profile of newborns of hemoglobinopathic mothers hospitalized in the paediatrics department of the Cocody University Hospital. Population and method: This was a cross-sectional and analytical study that took place over a period of 2 years (November 2017-November 2019). Two hundred and fifty newborns whose mothers were carriers of a hemoglobin abnormality were included in the study. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 28.99 years; they had major sickle cell disease in 14% of cases (SS: 7 cases; SC: 17 cases; SAFA2; 8 cases; SFA2: 4 cases). The sickle cell trait AS was present in 49.5% of cases and hemoglobinosis C appeared only in the heterozygous AC form (36.5%). Low birth weight (p = 0.046), hypotrophy (p = 0.08), and bacterial infection (p = 0.009) were more common in newborns born to mothers who were carriers of a major form. Mortality was 14.8% and the causes of death were hypoxic and ischemic encephalopathy (35%), Neonatal Bacterial Infection (16%) and prematurity (24%). Conclusion: Newborns of mothers with hemoglobinopathies are at risk. The introduction of newborn screening would improve their care.