Mortalidad infantil en el Hospital Docente Ginecoobstétrico de Guanabacoa (1998-2010)

introduction: infant mortality is an important indicator used to measure the population health status. among its components, the early neonatal death is a challenge for the gynecology-obstetric specialist since its decrease is mainly related to the obstetric follow-up over pregnancy and delivery period. objective: to determine the behavior of the infant mortality rate in the guanabacoa gynecology-obstetrics hospital from january 1, 1998 to december 31, 2010. methods: a retrospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted on all children deaths occurred in this institution. study universe included 74 children deaths from as total of 23 533 live-born. information was gathered from the mortality committee and from the files of the statistics department of our institution. results: it was noted that infant mortality over those 13 years was of 3.9 x 1000 life-born with a trend to decrease from 2004. the major causes of death included: infections, asphyxia and malformations. although there was predominance of an early neonatal component, from 2.7 x 1000 live-born, it showed a decrease over study period. likewise, it is necessary to suggest that from 2008 there were not late neonatal deaths. conclusions: the 10-years infant mortality was of 3.9 x 1000 live-born with a trend to decrease in the early neonatal component. sepsis was the major problem for our institution.