RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Cause-specific neonatal mortality: analysis of 3772 neonatal deaths in Nepal, Bangladesh, Malawi and India JF Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health SP F439 OP F447 DO 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307636 VO 100 IS 5 A1 Edward Fottrell A1 David Osrin A1 Glyn Alcock A1 Kishwar Azad A1 Ujwala Bapat A1 James Beard A1 Austin Bondo A1 Tim Colbourn A1 Sushmita Das A1 Carina King A1 Dharma Manandhar A1 Sunil Manandhar A1 Joanna Morrison A1 Charles Mwansambo A1 Nirmala Nair A1 Bejoy Nambiar A1 Melissa Neuman A1 Tambosi Phiri A1 Naomi Saville A1 Aman Sen A1 Nadine Seward A1 Neena Shah Moore A1 Bhim Prasad Shrestha A1 Bright Singini A1 Kirti Man Tumbahangphe A1 Anthony Costello A1 Audrey Prost YR 2015 UL http://fn.bmj.com/content/100/5/F439.abstract AB Objective Understanding the causes of death is key to tackling the burden of three million annual neonatal deaths. Resource-poor settings lack effective vital registration systems for births, deaths and causes of death. We set out to describe cause-specific neonatal mortality in rural areas of Malawi, Bangladesh, Nepal and rural and urban India using verbal autopsy (VA) data.Design We prospectively recorded births, neonatal deaths and stillbirths in seven population surveillance sites. VAs were carried out to ascertain cause of death. We applied descriptive epidemiological techniques and the InterVA method to characterise the burden, timing and causes of neonatal mortality at each site.Results Analysis included 3772 neonatal deaths and 3256 stillbirths. Between 63% and 82% of neonatal deaths occurred in the first week of life, and males were more likely to die than females. Prematurity, birth asphyxia and infections accounted for most neonatal deaths, but important subnational and regional differences were observed. More than one-third of deaths in urban India were attributed to asphyxia, making it the leading cause of death in this setting.Conclusions Population-based VA methods can fill information gaps on the burden and causes of neonatal mortality in resource-poor and data-poor settings. Local data should be used to inform and monitor the implementation of interventions to improve newborn health. High rates of home births demand a particular focus on community interventions to improve hygienic delivery and essential newborn care.