EFFICACY OF EARLY NEWBORN DISCHARGE IN A MIDDLE-CLASS POPULATION

The safety of early newborn discharge was assessed by determining the incidence, time of onset, and nature or problems requiring hospitalization that appeared in the first 2 wk of life among 1735 consecutively born term infants in a private metropolitan hospital. Infants with and without abnormalities during the initial 6-h transitional period were compared. Of 1583 initially well infants, 11 (0.7%) had problems other than jaundice develop that required hospitalization in the first 3 days of life. In contrast, 42 (28%) of the 152 infants with abnormal transitional periods required prolonged hospital care; this was statistically significant. The nature of the problems occurring before and after 72 h was similar, jaundice being the most common and occurring with equal frequency in both periods. Most illness requiring hospitalization in the first 3 days of life could have been safely detected during an outpatient visit; these findings, in addition to a cost-benefit estimate, suggest that early discharge of initially well infants with careful follow-up may be an effective alternative to a traditional 3-day stay.