The association of regional perinatal risk factors and neonatal intensive care capacity for Military Health System-insured newborns

Objective To characterize hospitals where military-insured newborns received care and test the association of regional perinatal risk with neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) capacity. Study design We identified birth hospitals for live newborns October 2015–December 2018 ( n = 296,568) and assigned newborns to health service areas (HSAs). Perinatal risk factors and the number of neonatal special care beds and neonatologists were calculated at HSA levels. Cross-sectional correlation analyses assessed perinatal risk factors and capacity across HSAs. Results 27.0% ( n = 10) of military birth hospitals had special care beds (intermediate and intensive) compared with 44.3% of civilian hospitals ( n = 1224; p