EXAMINING NEONATAL MORTALITY TRENDS AND OBSTETRIC-NEWBORN CORRELATIONS AMONG ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS: A DECADE REVIEW
Authors: Larissa Juliana Costa Ferreira
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17413954
Published: July 2025
Abstract
<p><em>Neonatal mortality remains a critical indicator of maternal and child health, particularly in socioeconomically vulnerable populations such as adolescent and young adult mothers. This ecological temporal trend study analyzed neonatal mortality rates in Bahia, Brazil, from 2011 to 2020 among infants born to mothers aged 10– 19 and 20–24 years, using publicly available data from Mortality Information System (SIM) and Live Birth Information System (SINASC). Neonatal mortality coefficients (overall, early [0–6 days], and late [7–27 days] per 1,000 live births) were calculated and evaluated via simple linear regression with Newey-West correction to determine annual percentage change and trend significance. Spearman’s correlation assessed associations between annual overall neonatal mortality and obstetric (mode of delivery) and newborn variables (gestational age categories, birth weight categories). Of 13,076 deaths under one year in the age groups studied, 10,171 (77.8%) were neonatal, roughly equally distributed between adolescent and young adult mothers. Overall and early neonatal mortality rates declined significantly in both age groups over the decade, while late neonatal mortality remained stable. Most cause-specific preventable neonatal mortality rates decreased, except for an increasing trend in deaths due to maternal conditions affecting the fetus among infants of adolescent mothers. A strong positive correlation was observed between the proportion of borderline preterm births and overall neonatal mortality in the 20–24 age group; no significant correlations emerged for mode of delivery or birth weight. Despite overall declines, neonatal mortality—especially early deaths—remains elevated, underscoring the need for intensified prenatal and perinatal care, targeted interventions for adolescent mothers, and strengthened monitoring of preterm births to further reduce preventable neonatal deaths in vulnerable populations. </em></p>
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