Term and near-term infants account for a significant proportion of neonatal admissions and deserve regular audit. Many admissions are potentially avoidable. Survival for infants weighing 2,500 grams or greater is excellent. Only one normally formed infant died following admission during the study period. The number of "social" admissions of "well" infants highlighted by this study reflects poorly on the services available for well infant whose mothers are unable to care for them for whatever reason. We recommend regular audit of these infants in order to ensure efficient use of neonatal resources and to ensure optimum levels of neonatal intensive care.

The NEOMOD evaluates daily the severity of the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and is an accurate predictor of mortality.

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Severe airway obstruction due to congenital anomalies must be excluded in any dysmorphic child presenting with respiratory distress at birth. Rapid airway assessment will enable early and appropriate intervention and may be important when deciding on the long-term plan for the infant.