J Prev Med Public Health.  2019 May;52(3):154-160. 10.3961/jpmph.18.270.

Factors Associated With Stillbirth Among Pregnant Women in Nepal

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani, Thailand.
  • 2Department of Public Health, Karnali College of Health Science, Kathmandu, Nepal. gautamnirmal@karnalicollege.edu.np

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
Stillbirth is a common adverse pregnancy outcome that represents a distressing and traumatic event for women and their partners. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with stillbirth in ever-pregnant women in Nepal.
METHODS
This study utilized the individual women's dataset from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, conducted in 2016. The dependent variable of interest was whether women had at least 1 stillbirth during their lifetime. The associations between independent variables and the dependent variable of the study were analyzed using a multiple logistic regression model.
RESULTS
Among 8918 ever-pregnant women aged 15-49 years, 488 had experienced at least 1 stillbirth during their lifetime, representing 5.5% of the total. After adjusting each factor for the confounding effects of other factors, maternal age, maternal education, place of residence, and sub-region remained significantly associated with having experienced stillbirth.
CONCLUSIONS
Stillbirth continues to be a major problem among women, especially those with higher maternal age, those who are illiterate, and residents of certain geographical regions. To minimize stillbirth in Nepal, plans and policies should be focused on women with low education levels and residents of rural areas, especially in the western mountain and far-western hill regions.

Keyword

Pregnancy; Stillbirth; Women; Nepal Demographic and Health Survey; Nepal

MeSH Terms

Dataset
Education
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Logistic Models
Maternal Age
Nepal*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome
Pregnant Women*
Stillbirth*
Full Text Links
  • JPMPH
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr