Antenatal and intrapartum events influencing outcome in very low birth-weight infants.

The influence of antenatal and intrapartum events and the route of delivery on Apgar scores and short-term outcome was studied in 359 singleton very low birth-weight infants who were resuscitated adequately at birth and had no lethal congenital anomalies. When stratified according to gestation the occurrence of antepartum haemorrhage, pregnancy-induced hypertension and amnionitis had no influence on the outcome while cord prolapse in infants less than 26 weeks resulted in 100% mortality. Prolonged rupture of membranes significantly improved the chances of their survival. The route of delivery did not influence survival, but greater numbers of babies between 27 and 30 weeks delivered by the breech had lower Apgar scores both at 1 and 5 minutes. Survival was dependent on gestational age and the condition at birth among this group of very low birth-weight infants.