2025, Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part A

Background of the study: The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that birth asphyxia is the failure to start and keep breathing during delivery. A five-minute Apgar score of less than 7 may also be a sign of this. It is a significant cause of death in newborns, accounting for 24% of all neonatal fatalities in the world. In Rajasthan, the newborn mortality rate is still high at 25 fatalities per 1,000 live births during the last ten years. Birth asphyxia was responsible for 28.6% of these deaths.

Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional research was conducted in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of selected hospitals in Sriganga Nagar, a tertiary care institution, from August 1, 2024, to December 1, 2024. Using a successive non-probability sampling procedure with p = 4.8% and d = 3%, 196 asphyxiated patients that satisfied the inclusion or exclusion criteria were chosen. Paper-based questionnaires were used to gather the data.

Results: Neonates born to moms with meconium-stained amniotic fluid were 4.6 times more likely to have neonatal asphyxia compared to those born to mothers with clear amniotic fluid (AOR = 4.55, 95% CI = 2.66-7.80). Deliveries that happened at night had a 1.91 times greater risk of birth asphyxia than those that happened during the day (AOR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.17-3.13). Additionally, neonates born before to 37 weeks of gestation had a fourfold elevated risk of experiencing birth asphyxia in comparison to those delivered at or after 37 weeks (AOR = 3.96, 95% CI = 1.98-7.89).

Conclusion: This finding aligns with the results of studies conducted in both Ethiopia and Northern Tanzania. A possible explanation is the complications associated with preterm birth, such as respiratory distress syndrome, which occurs due to immature lungs that are unable to maintain adequate oxygenation. This leads to hypoxia, which can result in neurological damage, including conditions like necrotising enterocolitis and cerebral palsy.