Child, Preschool ; Disease-Free Survival ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome - diagnosis ; New Guinea

This study investigated the epidemiology of child adoption in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. A prospective case-control study of 100 adopted and 100 control children matched by age and sex was done in 1995. The age at the time of adoption ranged from 7 days to 8 years with 64 being adopted in the neonatal period. 28 were adopted because the biological mother had died, 23 because the adoptive mothers had been unable to bear children and 16 because the biological mother was unmarried or 'too young'. Only 11 adopted children were not blood relatives of the adoptive mother; 10 children had been abandoned and 1 had been bought for cash. 97 adoptive mothers were married. The majority (61%) had no formal education and 95% were not in paid employment. Compared with the mothers of the control children fewer adoptive mothers had received any formal education and more of them smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol or chewed betelnut. Social characteristics of the adoptive fathers were similar to the fathers of the control children. Of the 66 living biological mothers for whom information was available, 39 (59%) were married, 16 (24%) single, 8 (12%) divorced and 3 (5%) widowed. For 21 (32%) of the biological mothers the adopted baby was their first. 19 adopted babies were breastfed, 8 exclusively, 6 with the addition of non-human milk and 5 with additional solid feeds. Two-thirds of the adopted children and only 5 controls were bottle-fed. There were no significant differences in nutritional status between the two groups and immunization status was similar. There was widespread ignorance about legal adoption procedures. Only 8 adoptive mothers had any knowledge of and only 2 had followed formal adoption procedures. In this group of adopted children it appeared that most were well cared for, as their nutritional status and immunization status were similar to non-adopted children. There have, however, been suggestions that adoption is a risk factor for child abuse in Papua New Guinea and adoption has recently been associated with severe malnutrition and mortality in a highlands hospital inpatient population. Information relating to formal adoption processes should be more widely disseminated throughout Papua New Guinean communities to protect the rights of adopted children and their adoptive parents.
Adoption ; Female ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Nutritional Status ; Papua New Guinea ; Socioeconomic Factors

An audit of neonatal care at Modilon Hospital, Madang was performed using obstetric and neonatal data for the five years 1995-1999. The overall perinatal mortality rate (PNMR) was 51.1 per 1000 total births with an early neonatal mortality rate (ENNMR) of 12.7 and a stillbirth rate (SBR) of 38.5. 839 neonates aged 0-28 days were admitted to the Special Care Nursery. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1. 186 babies (22%) died. The case fatality rate was higher in males than females (p<0.001). Babies born at health centres or born before arrival had a significantly higher fatality rate than hospital-born babies (p<0.001). The case fatality rate was highest in babies born preterm and declined with increasing birthweight from less than 1000 to 3999 g. The major recorded causes of admission were neonatal sepsis, prematurity, neonatal jaundice, birth asphyxia, respiratory distress and meconium aspiration syndrome. 60% of deaths occurred within 48 hours of admission, 32% between 48 hours and 7 days and 8% at 7 days or older. The proportion of deaths occurring during the afternoon and night shifts was significantly higher than that during the morning shift (p<0.001). This was most likely to be related to staffing levels. The major causes of death were prematurity or low birthweight (27%), sepsis (23%) and birth asphyxia (17%). Other causes of death included congenital abnormalities, meconium aspiration and meningitis. Antenatal care is still not universally available for Papua New Guinean women. Home delivery of high-risk mothers is commonplace, and women delivering in hospital often present in established labour. Perinatal and neonatal problems are therefore frequent. Newborn babies have the right to the best available care. This can only be provided if hospitals and health facilities understand the basic requirements of neonatal care and provide designated space, adequate staffing and proper equipment.
Neon ; Hospitals ; lower case pea ; etiology ; 48 hours