Neonatal Mortality in a Tertiary Care Private Set Up in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Childhood mortality (number of deaths among children younger than 5 years, including neonatal deaths) has declined substantially between 1970 and 2016 [1]. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new global initiative of the World Health Organization, has set a target of under five mortality rate ≤25 deaths per 1000 live births and a Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) ≤ 12 deaths per 1000 live births [2]. All United Nations Member States are expected to achieve these SDG targets between 2016 and 2030 [2]. The countries with high Sociodemographic Index (SDI) had already achieved their target NMR before the launch of the SDG program [1]. This includes six Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. Saudi Arabia has a well-developed healthcare system; both in the public and private sectors. Saudi Arabia’s published national neonatal mortality data are cumulative countrywide data from both public and private hospitals. The country does not have formal and exclusive research-based neonatal mortality data from its private sector. We conducted this research study to fill this gap in knowledge. In addition, we wanted to analyze the contribution of birth defects to NMR in the high SDI population of Saudi Arabia because, along with all other Arab countries, Saudi Arabia is classified as one of the Red Zone countries with highest incidence of birth defects in the world [3].