Perinatology.  2020 Mar;31(1):7-13. 10.14734/PN.2020.31.1.7.

Neonatal Outcomes in Term Births according to Gestational Weeks

• Park YJ
• Kwak YH
• Kim HY
• Han SW
• Kim EH

• KMID: 2507504
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14734/PN.2020.31.1.7

Abstract

Objective
This study aimed to determine neonatal outcomes and morbidities according to gestational weeks in term births.
Methods
This was a retrospective observational study of 626 singleton deliveries from 37 0/7 to 41 6/7 gestational weeks in National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital using electronic medical record data from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2017 Neonatal outcomes and morbidity in women who attempted vaginal delivery were compared at each gestational week.
Results
Early term births (37 0/7 to 38 6/7) accounted for 38.7% of full-term births (242/626). The rate of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission was the lowest at 39 gestational weeks (25.0%) and highest at 41 weeks (30.8%). Compared to 39 gestational weeks, the rate of NICU admission days for more than 5 days and 5-minute Apgar score less than 7 were higher at 37 gestational weeks (26.6% vs. 11.3%, P=0.028 and 7.6% vs. 2.0%, P=0.011, respectively). The intubation rate was lower in 39 weeks than in 37 weeks without statistical significance. The incidence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid increased with gestational weeks from 37 weeks (1.3% at 37 weeks, 30.8% at 41 weeks,P<0.001). Severe neonatal morbidities were very low and not different according to gestational weeks.
Conclusion
Among term births, our study showed that the prevalence of neonatal morbidities was highest at 37 gestational weeks and lowest at 39 gestational weeks. However, there was no significant difference in severe morbidities. Further studies are urgently required to determine the appropriate timing of delivery to avoid common neonatal complications.

Keyword

Term birth; Intensive care; Neonatal; Morbidity; Gestational age