FACTORS INFLUENCING MECONIUM STAINED AMNIOTIC FLUID (MSAF) DELIVERY OUTCOMES AT RIDGE HOSPITAL, ACCRA

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The incidence of meconium in amniotic fluid (MAF) is between 10%and 16% of full-term births of women considered to be at normal risk. Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (MAS) is a complication present in MAF and constitutes an important cause of perinatal mortality. Objectives: The study was to determine the factors influencing meconium stained amniotic fluid deliveries outcomes. Specifically, the study sought to assess factors influencing fetal outcomes of Meconium Stained Amniotic Fluid (MSAF) deliveries at the Greater Accra Regional hospital. Methods: The study made use of a retrospective design. Similarly, mothers who had delivered at Accra Regional Hospital from June 2015 to June 2016were selected from the records at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. More precisely, descriptive statistics of percentages and frequencies and inferential statistics of logistic regression were used. Results: The results of the study revealed that most deliveries with the diagnosis of MSAF were grade three. Additionally, out of 7816 deliveries, only 8% was diagnosed with MSAF. Patients with gestational age of 38-42 (term) and greater than 42 (post term) had a statistically significant lower odds to have MSAF deliveries than patients with a gestational age of less than 38 (pre-term). In addition, as gravidity increases, the odds of having MSAF delivery decrease. Patients who were referred had a lower odds of MSAF delivery than patients who were clients of Accra Regional Hospital. Recommendation: The study recommends that Ghana Health Services should ensure that Accra Regional Hospital put measures in place to enforce the referral policy of the service and to put in place measures to ensure that the occurrence of MSAF deliveries and associated consequences are reduced and future studies on this topic should include other hospital facilities to help make a better generalization of the results.