Abstract
The Australian & New Zealand Neonatal Network (ANZNN) is a voluntary collaboration of all 28 level III Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in both countries. All 13 level II nurseries in New Zealand and the level II nursery in Tasmania are also members of the ANZNN. This network continues to conduct an ongoing prospective audit of the most at-risk babies admitted for care in neonatal nurseries. The audit looks at factors that may affect the outcomes of babies that can be measured while in hospital.
During 2000, 6385 babies met the registration criteria of the ANZNN audit and were admitted a III NICU. An additional 319 babies who met the criteria were admitted to a level II nursery and not transferred to a level III nursery within 28 days of birth.
There were 3285 babies born at less than 32 weeks' gestation registered to the level III NICU audit in 2000. The ANZNN level III cohort represents 2.23% of the total births for the two countries, a similar rate to that seen in 1999 (2.25%).