Clinical causes and classification of perinatal mortality in Lagos.

Perinatal deaths in singleton births at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital during a 5-year period were reviewed. Causes of deaths were classified into eight groups using a modified form of the Aberdeen classification. Perinatal mortality was high (42.5/1000 total births). The stillbirth rate was 32.5/1000 total births. The major causes of perinatal mortality were trauma (30.5%), low birth weight (23.9%), hemorrhage (13.7%), toxemia of pregnancy (10.3%) and mature, cause unknown (10%). Congenital malformation (4.3%) was not a major cause of perinatal deaths in this study.