Newborn transport in South Australia, 1978-80: experience of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Adelaide.

389 infants were transported to the queen Victoria hospital, Adelaide between 1978 and 1980. Twenty three per cent (99) of the infants were ventilated, and 49 per cent (189) received intravenous or intraarterial therapy. Fifty six per cent (217) of the infants required transport because of prematurity; 11 per cent (46) because of perinatal asphyxia in babies weighing more than 2,500 g. Only one baby died during transport, while 14 per cent of the babies died subsequently. A core temperature of less than 36 degrees c in either hospital is important; a cold baby is 3.5 Times more likely to die (x2=25.46, P less than 0.001). The transport of babies over distances greater than 300 kilometres is peculiar to Australia. Significantly more of these babies were cold than those retrieved from hospitals near Adelaide (x2=4.7, P less than 0.05), And significantly more died. Difficulty in transferring mothers in preterm labour may be another reason these babies did relatively badly. Better education and facilities will be important if we are to improve their survival chances (a).