Neonatal mortality among outborn versus inborn babies

• Main Authors: Wan-Hsuan Chen, Chung-Hao Su, Li-Chun Lin, Hsin-Ching Lin, Ying-Jui Lin, Hsin-Yi Hsieh, Jiunn-Ming Sheen, Chien-Te Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-07-01
• Series: Pediatrics and Neonatology
• Subjects: inborn; neonatal mortality; outborn
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875957221000607

Background: Most previous studies reported there were higher survival rates if low birth weight babies were born in tertiary perinatal centers (inborn) than elsewhere (outborn). The objective of this study is to examine whether the number and ratio of outborn babies decrease and the neonatal mortality differs between inborn and outborn babies. Methods: We used the pooled data of the Taiwan Clinical Effectiveness Index for the years 2011–2016 obtained from the Joint Commission of Taiwan to study the outborn/inborn number and neonatal mortality rate. Results: We found that the number of outborn babies did not decrease year by year. The ratio of outborn to total babies was lower in the groups of birth body weight 750–999 g and ≧ 2500 g than the other groups. The neonatal mortality rate in outborns was significantly higher than the inborns in the groups of birth body weight 1000–1499 g, 2000–2499 g and ≧ 2500 g (6.9 ± 2.4 vs. 3.8 ± 0.9, P = 0.009, 2.6 ± 0.6 vs. 0.6 ± 0.3, P = 0.002 and 1.52 ± 0.67 vs. 0.08 ± 0.02, P = 0.002, respectively) in medical centers. Conclusion: Improved maternal transport which promotes in utero transfer of patients may further improve neonatal outcome.