Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity in the Neonatology Unit of the Pediatrics Department of the Reference Health Center of Commune III of the District of Bamako

Introduction: In 2022, nearly half (47%) of deaths in children under 5 years of age occurred during the first 28 days of life, which corresponds to the neonatal period. Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest neonatal mortality rate in the world at 27%. In Mali in 2024, according to the Demographic Health Survey, the neonatal mortality rate is estimated at 29‰. Our neonatology unit did not have data on newborns. The objective is to study neonatal morbidity and mortality in the said unit. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective descriptive study from September 2022 to June 2023 including newborns aged 0-28 days admitted to the Neonatology Unit of the Reference Health Center of Commune III of the Bamako district. Results: From September 2022 to June 2023, we consulted 518 newborns, 245 of whom were hospitalized, representing a frequency of 47.2%. The average age was 0.93 days. The sex ratio was 1.2 in favor of boys. The average age of mothers was 26.6 years. They were mostly in school (74.3%) and pauciparous (38.4%). Pregnancies were well monitored in 73.1% of them. The mode of delivery was vaginal at 67.3%. The most common pathologies were perinatal anoxia (62.8%), prematurity (35.4%) and neonatal infection (23.2%). We recorded a cure rate of 83.7% and a mortality rate of 13.9%. The only factors significantly associated with neonatal deaths in our study were the age of newborns (OR: 0.19, [95% CI OR: 0.04; 0.83], p = 0.024) and the number of parities of the mothers (OR = 2.465, p = 0.038). Conclusion: Neonatal mortality remains a public health problem in Mali despite government efforts. Newborns continue to die in our healthcare facilities from often preventable causes. The main factors significantly associated with neonatal deaths in our study were the age of the newborns and the number of parities of the mothers. Generally, good pregnancy monitoring and good surveillance of deliveries reduce the rate, even if our study did not prove it.