Survival of low birthweight infants in central Queensland

The survival of low birthweight infants < or = 2000 g born in the central Queensland area during the years 1979 to 1991 was examined. Five hundred and sixty such infants were either delivered at one of the two Rockhampton obstetric units (Rockhampton Base Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital) or retrieved from outlying central Queensland areas. Both hospitals had intensive care nurseries capable of ventilation and infants were transferred to tertiary centres only for cardiac or surgical treatment. The study involved all liveborn infants, including those with lethal malformations and all deaths up to the time of discharge. Survival rates were as follows: < or = 500 g 0%, 501 < or = 750 g 30%, 751 < or = 1000 g 51%, 1001 < or = 1500 g 79%, 1501 < or = 2000 g 93%. The survival of Aboriginal infants and outborn infants were found to be essentially the same as the overall group.