[Perinatal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in central Switzerland in 1982. An analysis of all newborns in a geographically circumscribed region].

In assessment of the perinatal situation in Central Switzerland, all 5616 infants born in the geographically surrounding areas of the Children's Hospital Lucerne have been statistically evaluated, according to birth place, birth weight, gestational age, perinatal condition, and postnatal development. 76 infants (1.4%) were born at home, 417 births (7.5%) took place before the completed 37th gestational week. Only 5.8% of our newborns had weights below the 10th percentile according to the Winterthur percentile curves used in Switzerland. The perinatal mortality was 12.9%, the neonatal mortality 7.1%. 2/3 of the deaths concern either extremely premature babies or infants with severe congenital malformations. The recorded malformations coincide with the known incidence, with the exception of trisomy 21, which marked an incidence of 1:1400. 8% of all live-born babies (499) needed special neonatal care. Among the preterm infants, every 2nd, and among the full-term babies every 12th had to be transferred to the neonatal care unit. Most of the transferrals were due to simple disturbances of adaptation (6% of all live-borns), whereas 1% required intensive care because of severe disorders. In 50 babies (1% of all live-borns), the neonatal diagnosis allows to anticipate a reduction of the quality of life.