Increase in live births recorded

Heads of the pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology departments here revealed their 2006 statistics last Friday, at the 11th annual perinatology conference which took place at the School of Nursing at Largo Height.

The conference heard reports from various areas of the child care and maternity units, including maternal and child health nursing reports, obstetrical highlights, and nursing service presentation.{{more}}

Dr. Marjorie Joseph of Grenada gave the feature address, which was an assessment of data, and some brief remarks were made by Medical Officer of Health Dr. Roger Duncan.

At the beginning of the conference all present paid their respect to slain clerk at the maternity unit Stacey Wilson with one minute’s silence.

According to the statistics, there were 1,754 births in St. Vincent and the Grenadines last year. Of the 1,754 births, 1,730 were live births while 24 were stillbirths. Of the stillbirths, 12 were fresh and 12 were macerated.

There were 851 male live births and 878 female live births. The sex of one live birth was undetermined.

Teenage pregnancies were down last year; two girls 13 years and under gave birth last year; there were 80 pregnancies for girls 14-16 years, and 278 girls between 17 and 19 gave birth.

There was only one maternal death, 31 neonatal deaths, and 244 elective sterilizations.

There were 473 caesarian sections performed last year, 376 were emergency and 97 were elective.

All speakers indicated that as the care of both mothers and newborns improved over the year, the number of problems that surround patients at that stage have declined.

The speakers also praised the members of staff who worked tirelessly over the year.