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Improvement in mortality of very low birthweight infants and the changing pattern of neonatal mortality: The 50‐year experience of one perinatal centre
Author(s) -
Battin Malcolm R,
Knight David B,
Kuschel Carl A,
Howie Ross N
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2012.02425.x
Subject(s) - medicine , context (archaeology) , pediatrics , cardiorespiratory fitness , respiratory distress , neonatology , neonatal mortality , neonatal intensive care unit , infant mortality , low birth weight , population , pregnancy , environmental health , surgery , paleontology , genetics , biology
Aim: Neonatology is a relatively new sub‐specialty so we aimed to review survival data in the context of advances in neonatal care. Method: Review of neonatal survival for very low birthweight babies over the last 50 years. Results: In the data collected from a single tertiary neonatal unit, survival for babies 501–1000 g improved from below 10% in 1959 to over 60% in 2009. Similarly, survival for babies 1001 to 1500 g has improved from approximately 50% to over 90%. During the study period, death due to extreme prematurity or cardiorespiratory problems, namely respiratory distress syndrome, fell from 90% in 1964 to only 45% of neonatal deaths in 2008. Conclusion: In addition to reporting the remarkable improvement in neonatal survival over this period, we have highlighted items of historical context.