Unexpected term NICU admissions: a marker of obstetrical care quality?

Affiliation

Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Electronic address: [Email]

Abstract

Unexpected admissions of term neonates to the neonatal intensive care unit and unexpected postnatal complications have been proposed as neonatal-focused quality metrics for intrapartum care. Previous studies have noted significant variation in overall hospital neonatal intensive care unit admission rates; however, little is known about the influence of obstetric practices on these rates or whether variation among unanticipated admissions in low-risk, term neonates can be attributed to systemic hospital practices.

Keywords

hospital variation,intrapartum,labor,neonatal intensive care,neonatal intensive care unit,obstetric care,quality,