ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Obstetrics and Gynecology 2022 June;74(3):270-8

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-606X.21.04734-5

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Assessment of morbidity and mortality in newborns with late prematurity: experience of a reference maternity in the northeast of Brazil

Liliana S. PAES ¹, Francisco H. CARVALHO ¹, Edward ARAUJO JUNIOR ² ✉, Helvécio N. FEITOSA ¹

¹ Department of Maternal and Child Health, Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil; ² Department of Obstetrics, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil

BACKGROUND: Late preterm infants show high rates of adverse perinatal outcomes. The aim of this study is to assess the morbidity and mortality of newborns (NBs) with late preterm birth in a reference maternity hospital in northeastern Brazil.
METHODS: Retrospective cohort study from March 1^st to July 15^th, 2017. A total of 204 NBs with gestational age between 34 and 36 weeks and six days were evaluated and compared to 205 full-term NBs (39 and 40 weeks and six days). Perinatal outcomes including neonatal morbidity were evaluated. The Student’s t and ANOVA tests were used for normal variables, and the Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests for non-normal variables.
RESULTS: Late preterm infants showed significant higher rates of hypothermia, hypoglycemia, respiratory distress syndrome, jaundice in need of phototherapy (67.6%), admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU), and difficulty breastfeeding compared to full-term NBs (P<0.001). Respiratory distress was the main indication for the admission of late preterm infants (P<0.001) to neonatal ICU. Late preterm infants had a longer hospital stay (6.9 vs. 3.7 days, P<0.001). There were three deaths in the group of late preterm NBs, and none in the group of term NBs.
CONCLUSIONS: Late preterm NBs presented higher rates of morbidity and mortality when compared to full-term NBs.

KEY WORDS: Morbidity; Mortality; Newborn infant; Premature birth