Summary
The majority of neonatal deaths in normally formed newborns occur in V.L.B.W. infants. This study was performed to determine where efforts should be directed towards improving their management. The charts of 18 infants with birth weights 750–1,500 grams who died in the first month of life over a 2 year period at the Rotunda Hospital were reviewed. During this time there were 11,500 total births with 0.8% of births < 1.5 Kg. birth weight. Gestational age of the infants studied ranged from 24 to 30 weeks. Fifteen infants died less than 48 hours of age. Postmortems were performed on 16. Twelve infants were severely asphyxiated. Seven died from intraventricular haemorrhage; all who died after surviving greater than 44 hours developed I.V.H. Seven developed a pneumothorax, two of whom subsequently developed an I.V.H. Four infants died due to pneumonia. Six twins died, three due to twin to twin transfusion. Other important prenatal factors were antepartum haemorrhage (7), prolonged premature rupture of membranes (3), and mothers presenting “unbooked” (2).
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Clarke, T.A., McKenna, P.J. & Matthews, T.G. Factors associated with neonatal deaths in very low birth weight infants. I.J.M.S. 156, 211–214 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02954042
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02954042