Neonatal Outcomes of Near-term Infants

Na, Bo Mi; Song, Chang Ju; Kim, Mi Jung

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To document the common medical problems and clinical outcomes of near-term infants who were delivered between 35(+0) and 36(+6) weeks of gestation, in order to promote optimal health outcomes for these infants.
METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of medical records of 113 near-term infants and 138 term infants as control, who were born at Chungbuk national university hospital in 2003~2004.
RESULTS
When compared with term infants, near-term infants had a significantly lower Apgar scores (7.7 vs. 8.7 at 1 minute) and higher frequency of prolonged rupture of membrane (19.8% vs. 6.7%), preeclampsia (20.9% vs. 4.4%), jaundice (46.0% vs. 11.6%), respiratory distress (20.4% vs. 10.9%), feeding problems (19.5% vs. 5.8%), intravenous fluid infusion (63.7% vs. 24.6%), diagnostic work-up for possible sepsis (68.1% vs. 26.1%), and use of antibiotics (58.4% vs. 22.5%). There were no differences in frequency of cesarean section, hypoglycemia, hypothermia and clinical sepsis. More near-term infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (68% vs. 28%) and delayed in discharge home (60% vs. 27%) with longer hospital stay (7.77+/-5.63 days vs. 4.67+/-3.17 days).
CONCLUSION
Near-term infants showed significantly more neonatal problems and longer and repeated hospital stays than full-term infants. Optimal care guidelines for near-term infants including scrupulous monitoring for the development of early complications and meticulous follow-up after discharge need to be developed.