Antenatal versus neonatal transport to a regional perinatal center: a comparison between matched pairs.

Fifty randomly selected newborn infants of maternal transports admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Long Beach Memorial Hospital in 1976 and 1977 were matched by birth weight, gestational age, and outcome with 50 transported neonates. The factors compared included type of delivery, 5-minute Apgar score, length of hospital stay, distance of transport, admitting diagnosis, need for assisted ventilation, and length of time on assisted ventilation. Only 2 factors were found to be statistically different between the 2 groups. There was an increased cesarean section rate in transport mothers but a lower morbidity among preterm neonates born to maternal transports.