PREGNANCY OUTCOME AMONG WOMEN WITH OLIGOHYDRAMNIOS AT TERM IN TWO TEACHING HOSPITALS IN HARAR, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Oligohydramnios is defined in clinical practice as amniotic fluid index of less than 5 cm or single deepest pocket of less than 2cm when measured by ultrasound. As there is no clear national or institutional guideline addressing oligohydramnios, women with oligohydramnios are managed differently in the different hospitals.Although it is a frequently occurring condition in pregnant women managed in the two teaching hospitals in Harar, Ethiopia, there are no studies done so far to assess its impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes in these setups. The information generated by study serves as a baseline. Objective: To assess the pregnancy outcome among women with oligohydramnios at term in two teaching Hospitals in Harar, Ethiopia from 1st of January 2022 to 31th of December 2023. Data was collected from May 1st to 30th, 2024. Methodology: Institutions based retrospective cross-sectional study was done at the teaching hospitals in Harar. Two hundred eleven women with oligohydramnios at term having singleton fetus presenting to the outpatient departments was included using whole population sampling. These women were followed for their pregnancy outcomes till discharge from the hospitals. The association between variables was done using chi square, Kruskal Wallis test, t test/One way ANOVA, and logistic regression analysis Result: There were 211 (2.1%) women, whose pregnancies were complicated with oligohydrmnios at or beyond 37 weeks of gestation among 9910 deliveries at the two hospitals during the study period from the 1st of January 2022 to 31th of Dec, 2023. Over all cesearen rate was 144(68.2%). Among those women who had trial of labor, the c/s rate was 54(44.6%). The gross perinatal mortality rate and corrected perinatal mortality rate in this study were 52.1 in 1000 and 35.2 per 1000 deliveries respectively Conclusions: Oligohydramnios at term was a common condition in the teaching hospitals. Women with oligohydramnios had high neonatal morbidities and mortalits. Women with oligohydramnios had also high caesarean section deliveries.