Paediatric aspects of the early discharge of maternity patients.

Planned early discharge of mothers and babies from St. Luke's Maternity Hospital, Bradford, has been taking place since 1958. The purpose of this paper is to describe the effect it has had on child health in the city, and, in particular, to consider its safety and acceptability from a paediatric point of view. Theobald (1959, 1962) depicted the form and purpose of the "Bradford experiment," and Douglas et al. (1961) have published the results of the scheme from its inception until the end of 1960. The results of early discharge elsewhere have been described by Hellman et al. (1962) and Pinker and Fraser (1964). Our review covers a period of seven years from January 1959 to December 1965, during which time 9,718 babies were discharged within 72 hours of birth. It is believed that up to the present this represents the greatest numerical experience of planned early discharge in Great Britain. The survey does not include babies taken home early against advice or those discharged to other units, nor to areas outside the city boundary. Full responsibility for neonatal care was accepted by the paediatric department in August 1962. Case 3.-Perforated caecum with peritonitis: normal delivery; third child; birth weight 7 lb. 4 oz. (3,290 g.). Discharged by obstetric house-surgeon at age 29 hours. Vomited blood on the second day; readmitted on the fifth day because of persistent vomiting. Immediate laparotomy with exteriorization of caecum and peritoneal drainage; died five hours later. Case 4.-Ventricular septal defect: normal delivery; third child; birth weight 8 lb. 5 oz. (3,770 g.). Discharged by obstetric