Preterm Infants’ Care and effects on Health Outcomes in Resource Limited Settings in the Central Region of Ghana

Background: Preterm babies are born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. In Ghana, the two greatest causes of death for newborns and children under five are still preterm birth and low birth weight. The study examined the preterm infants’ care and its effects on infants’ health outcomes in the resource limited settings in the Central Region of Ghana. Method: The study used a retrospective cross-sectional survey design to investigate type of preterm infants’ care and its effects on infants’ health outcomes in the Central Region of Ghana. Census sampling method was used to access the secondary data from 900 preterm infants’ records across twelve (12) randomly selected health facilities in the Central Region in 2024. A data compilation form was developed based on study objectives for the data collection. Data obtained were keyed in SPSS version 25.0 application for statistical analyses. Both descriptive and inferential statistics (binary logistic regression) were used. Results: On health outcomes of preterm infants, majority of them 487(54.1%) recovered with mortality rate of 18.9%. Also, majority of the infants 426(47.3%) who were treated with breastmilk, incubator and antibiotics recovered and none of them died (p-value=<0.001). The results from the logistic regression analysis showed that Gestational Age, Gender, and APGAR score were significant determinants of health outcomes, whereas Birth weight did not show any statistical significance (AOR=0.61(CI=0.64, 1.38). On health facility factors, the findings showed no statistical differences in incubator availability, electricity, trained staff and baby cots with coefficient of -0.002, p-value of 0.989, OR of 0.998. Conclusion: Preterm babies admitted to the health facilities in Central Region have higher chance of survival. Also preterm babies who receive antibiotics in addition to other care are able to recover without complications. It is recommended that interventions and measures on testing and scanning should be integrated in pregnancy care protocols.