Outcome of infants born to unbooked mothers: a short report from Goroka General Hospital, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

Abstract

Despite the increasing availability of antenatal care in Papua New Guinea (PNG), women continue to present for confinement without having previously attended antenatal clinic. In this brief report we present the findings of a five-year retrospective study conducted at Goroka General Hospital, Eastern Highlands Province, PNG. Mothers who had not previously accessed antenatal care ('unbooked mothers') were more likely to experience stillbirth or early neonatal death of their infant than booked mothers.