Health status of newborn children in megapolis

Abstract

Being the founders of two domestic schools of neonatology, Moscow and St. Petersburg make a significant contribution to the birth rate of our country. In order to assess the health status of newborns in the largest Russian cities, starting with the transition of the Russian Federation to the live birth criteria recommended by the WHO, the rates of birth of children with low, medium and high birth weight, neonatal morbidity, mortality and lethality of children in the first 168 hours of life were calculated and analyzed. Official statistics were used as the base material. It was revealed that in 2013–2023 in megacities, compared to the national indicators, children were born statistically significantly less often with a body weight of less than 2500 g and more often with a body weight of 4000 g or more. In St. Petersburg, the rate of birth of children with deviations in body weight exceeded similar rates in Moscow: low by 10.7%, extremely low by 19.3% and high by 8.1%. At the same time, in St. Petersburg, the rate of birth of children with a body weight of 500–999 g was 1.5– 2.5 was 9.9% higher than the national average, and 7.9% lower in Moscow. Against the backdrop of a decrease in the incidence rates of newborns in Russia and Moscow (by 7.2 and 15.4%, respectively), an annual increase in rates was observed in St. Petersburg, which amounted to 115.6% for the period 2013–2023. On average, over the years studied, the incidence rates of newborns in St. Petersburg were higher than in Russia and Moscow by 13.0 and 32.6%, respectively, and the incidence of children in the first month of life in Moscow was 12.5% lower than the national average. During the period studied, both in the country as a whole and in St. Petersburg and Moscow, mortality and lethality of newborns in the first 168 hours of life decreased significantly. The level of early neonatal mortality and lethality in megalopolises was lower than in the country as a whole, but in Moscow, the mortality and lethality of newborn children exceeded the indicators in St. Petersburg by 11.5 and 22.2%, respectively. Thus, in St. Petersburg, with higher rates of birth of children with abnormal body weight compared to Moscow, the level of morbidity of newborns was significantly higher. At the same time, this excess did not have a negative impact on the reduction of mortality and lethality rates of newborns, which in megacities were significantly lower than in the country as a whole. The study showed that in modern conditions, a high level of quality of medical care for newborns, laid down by the founders of the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools of neonatology, is continuously maintained.