Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the situation of preterm births and early neonatal mortality during 2007-2014 in Tuzla Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: The study covers a 8-year period and is based on the protocols at the Tuzla Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics that covers all birth in Tuzla Canton area. We analyzed the gestational age of all newborns and recorded the number of neonatal deaths in the first week after birth. Demographics, pregnancy and birth characteristics were collected from the maternal records. Results. The total number of births in the period was 32738. Preterm birth was identified in 2401 (7.3%) cases with 12,5% occurring before 32 gestational weeks and 64% in 35-36 gestational weeks . The mothers of the 24-31 gws preterm group were significantly younger that those in the 32-36 group. In the 32-36 group there were significantly greater proportions of mothers with assisted reproductive technology and pre-eclampsia and 16.7% was medical induced preterm births versus 11.4 % in the 24-31 PTB group, p

Key words: preterm birth, premature, early neonatal mortality.