The care of premature infants at home.

It has long been apparent that an improvement in the care of premature children at home or in hospital would result in a substantial reduction in neonatal infantile mortality rates. In March, 1944, this was given official recognition in the form ofa circular sent to Welfare Authorities (Ministry of Health, 1944), with recommendations for the care of premature children at home and in hospital. It was recognized that it might then be impossible for authorities to implement all the recommendations, but they were urged to do what they could. In Newcastle-upon-Tyne the matter had already been under consideration, and we decided first to make the experiment of providing adequate home care in order to have figures as a basis of comparison with institutional care and data for the guidance of future policy. The results of the care of premature infants in special hospital units are well known and have recently been described in detail by Crosse (1945), but the possibilities and the results of home care seem to have received little attention, although Brockington (1944) reported a survival rate of 66 per cent. (62 out of 94 births) for premature children attended by domiciliary midwives in the county of Warwickshire during 1943. The object of this note, therefore, is to give an account of the home care of premature infants in Newcastle-upon-Tyne from January, 1945, to May, 1946. The results will be given, and the equipment provided and the methods used will be described briefly: the special home provision was simple and excluded much that is considered essential in hospital.