Perinatal management and outcome in the infant weighing 1,000 to 2,000 grams.

Accomplishing reduction of the neonatal mortality rate in the infant weighing less than 1,500 grams accounts for one of the major areas of potential impact in obstretrics today. Of the 8,169 live births occurring in the Perinatal Unit, Women's College Hospital, between January 1, 1976, and December 31, 1978, 79 infants weighed between 1,000 and 1,500 grams and 135 were between 1,501 and 2,000 grams. Analysis of approach and outcome shows that with immediate neonatal intensive care, morbidity in the larger group can be managed to prevent death. The mortality rate in the infant weighing less than 1,500 grams, as well as morbidity in the larger group, is improved by a more active obstetric approach for the sake of the neonate. In this study, such an approach resulted in a corrected survival rate of 100% in both groups during 1978.