Understanding the magnitude of still birth in Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.

To understand the incidence and causes of still-births occurred in Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, we conducted a retrospective record review study in Department of Gynaecology of the hospital. The study population were the cases of still births occurred the months of January and December 2007. We administered a structured questionnaire to all the Medical Officers working in the department. They were requested to provide information on the still-births they noticed during the study period. They review their personal log books and hospital records to complete the questionnaire. We also reviewed the hospital records to obtain the service statistics. In total 11,146 patients were admitted to seek obstetric care during the study period and of them 7,069(63%) sought delivery care. During this period there were 735(10%) still births. The incidences of still births were more during December and January. The pre-existing maternal diseases that were frequently associated with still births were Antepartum Haemorrhage (APH) 38% and hypertension (27%). The frequently reported direct causes of the still births were obstructed labour (42%), misuse of oxytocin (28%) and foetal distress (20%). In many cases the loss is completely unexpected. Hospital based surveillance and issuing of still-birth certificates may increase the awareness of the problem among the obstetricians and in the community.