Clinical Features and Correlates of Outcomes for High-Risk, Marginalized Mothers and Newborn Infants Engaged with a Specialist Perinatal and Family Drug Health Service
Table 5
Neonate characteristics at birth.
Characteristics
Result
National data
Mean gestational age, weeks
37.6 (range 26–42)
38.8**
% preterm (<37 weeks gestation)
23.7
8.1**
Apgar score at 5 minutes
8.73 (range 3–10)
—
Average birth weight, grams
2798 (range 900–4345)
3374**
Average head circumference, cm
33 (range 24–37.5)
—
Average length, cm
46.9 (range 36–56.5)
—
Birth weight
% >2500 g
74.8
92.1**
% LBW† (<2500 g)
20.1
6.2**
% Very LBW (<1500 g)
2.2
1.0**
% Extremely LBW (<1000 g)
2.9
0.4**
% Breast milk feeds at birth
45.3
—
% Apgar < 7 at 5 mins after birth
5.8
1.4**
% Admitted to special care nursery/NICU††
69.1
14.5**
% NAS†††
69.8
—
% Required NAS pharmacotherapy
48.9
—
% Respiratory distress
21.6
—
% Jaundice
20.9
—
% Sepsis
5.8
—
Mean maximum Finnegan’s NAS score
7.55 (range 0–18)
—
*
value < 0.05; ** value < 0.001. †LBW: low birth weight. ††NICU: neonatal intensive care unit. †††NAS: neonatal abstinence syndrome.