TITLE:
Prevalence and Factors Associated with Neonatal Mortality at Ndola Teaching Hospital, Ndola Zambia
AUTHORS:
Regina Mwanza, Sebean Mayimbo, Catherine Mubita Ngoma
KEYWORDS:
Neonate, Mortality, Prevalence, Factors Associated with Neonatal Mortality
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.16 No.2,
March
17,
2026
ABSTRACT: Background: The impact of neonatal mortality continues to be a challenge worldwide. Some of the causes of neonatal deaths include: preterm birth, infections and asphyxia neonatorum. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and factors that were associated with neonatal mortality at Ndola Teaching Hospital in Zambia. Methodology: A case series retrospective quantitative analytical study design was used. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 169 case notes from January to December, 2021 that were randomly selected from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Ndola Teaching Hospital. Data were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Chi-square test was used to test associations between variables and the level of significance was set at 0.05 and at 95% confidence interval. Results: The prevalence of neonatal mortality was 8.9%. Concerning neonatal characteristics, 60.2% were male, the most common length of stay in the NICU was less than 7 days representing 75.7%. There was an association between being born preterm or very preterm and neonatal mortality (P-value = 0.001). Neonates who were resuscitated at birth and admitted with subnormal temperatures (35 degrees or below) were more likely to die (P-value = 0.0001). Conclusion: The study revealed that Neonatal mortality is high among hospitalized neonates at Ndola Teaching Hospital in Zambia. There is a need to scale up interventions such as strengthening antenatal care and staff to be familiar with resuscitation of neonates to mitigate risk factors to neonatal mortality.