Publication:

Maternal and neonatal characteristics of babies admitted with congenital CNS anomalies in a tertiary hospital in North Central Nigeria

Background CNS anomalies are an important group of largely preventable congenital anomalies. Knowledge of maternal and neonatal sociodemographic characteristics could identify a pattern of population at risk in order to target preventive interventions.

Methods This was a 3-year retrospective review of health records of all neonates admitted with CNS anomalies in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos, central-Nigeria.

Results Out of a total of 27 neonates with congenital CNS anomalies reviewed, 25 had neural tube defects, 1 hydrocephalos and 1 anencephaly. The peak age group of mothers were 20-29years (44.4%) and 30-39 years (44.4%). Twenty-two (81.5%) mothers had antenatal care (ANC). No mother booked in the 1st month and only 7 (25.9%) booked in the first trimester. Twenty-four (88.9%) mothers took folic acid during pregnancy. No mother had peri-conceptional folic acid use. There were 11(40.7%) home births with 14(87.5%) of the 16 hospital births taking place in lower tier health facilities. Twenty-six (96.3%) mothers had vaginal delivery. An obstetric ultrasound scan was reported by one (3.7%) mother and did not detect the anomaly. Five (18.5%) of the mothers had HIV infection. Twenty-six were term with a male: female ratio of 1.1:1. The median age at presentation was 2 (interquartile range 1, 8) days.

Conclusions Neonates with congenital CNS anomalies in JUTH frequently had mothers aged <35 years who did not receive preventive care before and during delivery. We therefore recommend interventions to improve the efficiency of health care delivery to cater for this gap.