This was a 10-year retrospective study of PPROM at
the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH)
Enugu, Nigeria between January 1, 1999 and December
31, 2008. Data was retrieved from antenatal ward
admission register, case files, theatre records and ward
reports of 119 women who were treated for PROM over
the study period. To be eligible for this study the
following criteria were fulfilled: (1) the patient must have
ruptured fetal membranes spontaneously and the
gestational age must be below 37 completed weeks. (2)
Labour must not start within 1 hour following
spontaneous membrane rupture. (3) All cases of artificial
rupture of fetal membranes are to be excluded from the
study.
Medical records were reviewed by trained staff using
pre-established and pilot data extraction forms. The
records of women who had PROM during the study period
were retrieved and data extracted. Information sort were
socio-demographic characteristics (maternal age, parity,
occupation, tribe and gestational age), birth weight, Apgar
scores at 1st and 5th minutes, need for neonatal
resuscitation and admission to new born special care unit
(NBSCU), fetal outcome, maternal complications which
could be reasonably be assumed to have resulted from
PROM such as postpartum endometritis, disseminated
intravascular coagulopathy, maternal sepsis and Asherman
syndrome.
The data were