Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 23, 2026
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Comparison and trends in outcomes of inborn and outborn infants born before 33 weeks' gestation
Gergely Balazs1, Melinda Vojtko1, Mariann Marki1
1Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
Objective:
To compare clinical care and outcome of preterm infants born in a tertiary neonatal unit with those requiring early postnatal transport to the same unit, and analyze their trends over a 9-year period.
Study Design:
A retrospective study of infants born before 33 weeks' gestation between 2013 and 2021. Inborn (n = 913) and outborn (n = 133) infants were compared using logistic regression and trend analysis.
Result:
Outborn infants more frequently required intubation in delivery room (59.4% vs. 32.3%, p < 0.001) and mechanical ventilation (69.2% vs. 44.5%, p < 0.001). They more frequently had severe intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH, 15% vs. 8.1%, p = 0.027) and had lower survival rate (88.7% vs. 91.9%, p = 0.02). Birth outside a tertiary neonatal unit increased the risk of severe IVH [odds ratio: 2.4 (95% confidence interval: 1.3-4.3)]. Only inborn infants showed decreasing trends in delivery room intubation (annual percentage change, APC: -21.2%, p < 0.001) and mechanical ventilation (APC: -8.3%, p = 0.001).
Conclusion:
Outborn infants continue to require more invasive respiratory support and experience worse outcomes.
