David L Robinowitz

Physiology and Development of the Term and Preterm Neonate

Perinatal injury, prematurity, and/or congenital anomalies inflict profound long- and short-term physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial stresses on survivors, their families, and society. Both the Annual Summary of Vital Statistics: 2007 and the National Vital Statistics Reports (April 30, 2010) list “disorders relating to short gestation and low birth weight” as the second leading cause (16–17 %) of infant death, second only to congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities (19.7–21 %). In 2011, 11.7 % of the 3.95 million live births (or 462,570) were preterm (<37 weeks gestation), 8.1 % (320,241) were low birth weight (<2,500 g), and 1.44 % (56,932) were very low birth weight (<1,500 g) in the United States. In that year, two-thirds of the 23,910 infants who died (infant mortality was 6.05 per 1000 live births) died in the neonatal period, and 45 % died as a result of congenital or chromosomal abnormalities (21 %), preterm age or low birth weight (17 %), and sudden infant death syndrome (7 %). In 2006, 54 % of all infant deaths occurred in the ~2 % of infants born less than 32 weeks gestation; 36 % of infant deaths were “preterm related” (Heron M et al. Pediatrics 125(1): 4–15, 2010).