Almost all (99%) neonatal deaths occur in developing countries, where the progress in reducing neonatal mortality rates (NMR) has been small; the Millennium Development Goal for child survival cannot be met if this situation continues. China is among the 10 countries that have the largest numbers of neonatal deaths. In order to provide effective interventions to reduce the national NMR for government policy makers, we analyse the trends, causes and characteristics of the neonatal deaths of preterm babies in different regions of China during the period 2003-2008. The data for this retrospective study were retrieved from the population-based Maternal and Child Health Surveillance System of China. The Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to analyse the trend of NMRs due to immaturity. The national NMR due to immaturity has decreased by 38.7% in 6 years. However, the proportion of preterm births among the causes of neonatal death has increased significantly from 33.6% in 2003 to 40.9% in 2008. The relative risk of neonatal death among preterm babies has shown significant regional disparity. In 2008, the adjusted relative risk was 1.30 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95, 1.78] in the inland regions and 2.37 [95% CI 1.56, 3.60] in the remote regions, both compared with the coastal regions. The proportion of neonatal deaths with a gestational age <32 weeks or a birthweight <1500 g was highest among the coastal regions. Most neonatal deaths of preterm babies in remote areas were born at home and were not treated before death. Our study suggests that preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal death in China and neonatal mortality due to immaturity displayed regional differences. The Chinese government should implement major effective strategies for reducing the mortality of preterm infants to further decrease the total NMR. Priority interventions should be region-specific, depending on the availability of economic and health care resources.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.