Evaluation of Neonatal Readmissions in the Nottingham Area

Results: Of the 3286 babies born during this time, there were 168 admissions within the neonatal period of which 71 were excluded as interdepartmental transfers, repeated or planned admissions. In 25% of cases, infants were admitted following difficulty in establishing breastfeeding, of whom ten had hypernatraemic dehydration. Other common diagnoses were: jaundice, infections and bronchiolitis. Twenty infants were admitted with hypothermia associated with sepsis, failure to establish feeding or without clear cause. Conclusions: This study illustrates an emerging new distribution of diagnoses within those babies readmitted in the neonatal period with a significant number of infants readmitted with feeding difficulties, significant weight loss and dehydration. This work illustrates the need for future work on prevention of this now common issue.