Controversies of early discharge of infants from the well-newborn nursery.
A reduced hospital length of stay for normal newborns has become common, largely in an attempt to reduce hospital costs. Although evidence in the literature suggests that this is a safe practice, the overall quality of the studies is weak, and controversy exists regarding the advisability of this practice. A review of the rather modest literature and experience with shortened hospital stays lead us to conclude that early discharge of newborns is safe if it is but one component of a larger program designed to transfer portions of care traditionally provided in the hospital to pre- and postnatal care provided outside the hospital. The early discharge program developed at the Harvard Community Health Plan is presented as an example of such a program, with the hope that this model will provide a useful framework to those who are involved with shortened hospital maternity lengths of stay.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
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Dershewitz
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Marshall
D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D009725:Nurseries, Hospital; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011181:Postnatal Care