High number of babies being admitted to N.B. neonatal intensive care units: Report

Perinatal New Brunswick has released its first report on maternal health, labour and delivery outcomes, and newborn health in the province.

Some of the findings are raising questions about the health of pregnant women in the province and on the level of care that moms and newborns receive after birth.

“I can’t honestly say that this report is not a reflection of the health of mom and babies in New Brunswick,” said Dr. Lynn Murphy-Kaulbeck, medical director of Perinatal NB

The perinatal report was meant to gather statistics relating to birth rates and maternal health in the province, information that she said has been lacking for years.

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The results, including why so many babies are going to the neonatal intensive care units across the province, are still unclear.

For example, the report shows that from 2011 to 2016 almost 54 per cent of babies born at the Chaleur Regional Hospital were admitted to the NICU in their first 28 days since their births.

“We don’t necessarily have reasons to why these numbers are the way they are but moving forward that would be part of the process in working with our stakeholders to say let’s look at this area what can we do,” said Murphy-Kaulbeck.

Becca Dunstan of Salisbury who gave birth to twins seven months ago would like to see all New Brunswick hospitals implement  ‘step down unit nurseries’ where babies who are not critically ill but need to be monitored can go instead of the NICU.

“Because there are babies in there that are critically ill and if you can cut down on pulling some of those nurses off of the babies that need 24/7 care instead of just slight monitoring I think that would be beneficial,” said Dunstan.

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Murphy-Kaulbeck says that is something the province’s health authorities could consider now that they have reliable data on perinatal health in the province provided in the new report.

She said the data from the report is being made public so that patients can have a snapshot of perinatal health in the province.

Murphy-Kaulbeck said another goal might be for stakeholders to take steps to decrease gestational diabetes and the percentage of c-sections performed in the province — which now sits at almost 28.1 per cent, slightly higher than the national average of 27.5 per cent.