ABSTRACT
In all countries the perinatal mortality rate (PMR), even with this relatively limited definition, is much higher than the maternal mortality rate. The PMR is widely used as an indicator of the quality of obstetric care and enables comparisons to be made among nations, regions and indeed individual hospitals. Although babies may die at any time during pregnancy, and obstetric complications such as preterm labour may result in death of the infant several weeks after delivery, perinatal mortality is strictly defined as stillbirths and deaths of babies in the first week of life. The causes of perinatal mortality, however, include a wide range of conditions, such as antepartum haemorrhage, congenital anomalies and preterm labour. For useful clinical lessons to be learned, perinatal mortality must be subdivided by the stage at which death occurred and by the causes. Neither perinatal mortality nor stillbirth was specifically mentioned but strategies for reducing perinatal mortality overlap with those for reducing maternal mortality.
