Children with birth weight 1500 g or under from Nordland in the period 1978-1989

All 271 liveborn infants with birthweight < or = 1,500 g born of mothers residing in Nordland county during 1978-89 were studied retrospectively. Mean birthweight was 1,083 g, mean gestational age 29 weeks and 21% of the children were growth retarded. 18% of the newborns were transported from local hospitals to a neonatal intensive care unit, most of them (82%) by the unit's transport team. The number of infants delivered by caesarean section increased during the study period. 103 children (38%) died before the age of four. 15 children (6%) died after the newborn period, mostly due to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n = 8) and sudden infant death syndrome (n = 4). Mortality rate corrected for birthweight < or = 500 g, lethal malformations and sudden infant death syndrome was 32%. The proportion of liveborn children suffering from cerebral palsy was 4.8%. Although the mortality rate remained unchanged during the study period, the proportion of disabilities decreased.