Neonatal Intensive Care: When and Where Is It Justified?

Abstract

AbstractThere is a wide panorama of disorders in the newborn infant where neonatal intensive care has been proven effective in reducing mortality. Although modern neonatal intensive care can be very costly, shortand simple interventions for support and resuscitation still can be highly beneficial. In reviewing the field of neonatal intensive careduring the 1980s, it becomes evident that a major challenge for the future will be to apply physiological principles of great and provenvaluefor the newborn baby to more simple devices. Only thereby canthe technology of neonatal care defined as a complex of actions–not only equipment and techniques–become justified for future generations.