An analysis of maternal transport within a suburban metropolitan region

Data on 185 infants transported for perinatal and/or neonatal care from suburban metropolitan hospitals were analyzed. Following birth, 100 infants were transferred from community hospitals. A total of 85 infants were transported in utero and delivered at a tertiary (Level III) perinatal center. Survival rate was 90% for infants transported in utero contrasted with 81% for the infant transports. This difference was not significant. When hospitalization cost and length of stay were used as an index of morbidity, there was a significant difference between the two groups. The mean hospitalization cost of survivors was $6,473 for in utero transports compared to $12,208 for infant transports (p less than 0.005). The mean length of stay for in utero transports was 19 days contrasted to 27 days for infant transports (p less than 0.05). The findings of this study indicate that in utero transports resulted in reduced morbidity for infants of high-risk pregnancies.