Background: The worldwide incidence of perinatal disease is one per thousand live births, with a mortality of 1 million cases, which represents up to 30% of neonatal mortality. Cerebral palsy is the most serious consequence in neonates. The absence of prenatal check-ups, the extreme ages of the mother and the extreme poverty are the main risk factors. Objective: To determine the frequency and social determinants of perinatal asphyxia in a hospital in Popayán Colombia during 2014. Methods: A case-control study was carried out, collecting retrospective information of newborns in this institution and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit during 2014. The cases were diagnosed by specialists in neonatology according to clinical management characteristics. Results: A total of 137 cases and 277 controls completed the sample of this study. The variables were associated with perinatal asphyxia, ethnicity (OR: 2.07; 95% IC: 1.1-3.6, p: 0.01), obstetric history (OR: 3.5; 95% IC: 2.0-5.9, p: 0.00), maternal complications in the last trimester of pregnancy (OR: 1.8; IC 95%: 1.1-3.1, p: 0.01) Conclusion: The results of this investigation that the frequency of the PA in the hospital Susana López de Valencia is high compared with other reports in the countries of the region. It was determined that asphyxia in HSLV is closely related to the complications inherent in the gestation period.