Sub-Sahara African Neonates â Ghosts to Statistics

Abstract

Unlike in many parts of the developed world, the African neonate, in some cases, is disadvantaged right from inception. In many urban slums and in most rural parts of the continent, the mother is often malnourished even before getting pregnant. Once in antenatal period, the pregnancy takes its toll on the already malnourished mother to the extent that the fetus is left on its own to extract all the nutrients it needs to survive in the womb. Feto-maternal malnutrition is often overlooked as a risk factor for stillbirth, low birthweight babies and maternal morbidity and mortality. Maternal conditions are directly linked to neonatal circumstances. An embryo may face many genetic, hereditary, mechanical and/or biological complications such as albinism, Spina bifida, cleft lip/cleft palate, development in the fallopian tube, obstruction due to sub-mucosal fibroid or placenta previa, just to mention a few. While leg or shoulder presentation, cord strangulation or locked heads in twin pregnancy are delicate intra-partum conditions, asphyxia neonatorum is about the commonest immediate post-partum pathology that may lead to neonatal death. This paper briefly describes neonatal morbidity and mortality, their remote and proximal causes and the need for essential health care as a right of mother, a right of the neonate and a right of the growing child.