title: Male disadvantage for neonatal complications of term infants, especially in small-for-gestational age neonates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sex differences in long and short-term outcomes for infants are observed. This has also been shown for several neonatal complications in preterm neonates. We aimed to evaluate whether sex impacts neonatal outcome among term neonates. Furthermore, we were interested in whether small-for-gestational age male and female neonates at term presented with different patterns of neonatal complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on all term singleton deliveries and respective neonatal outcomes between 2004 and 2008 at a single tertiary medical center were utilized for this retrospective cohort study. Immediate neurological complications were defined as one or more of the following: intraventricular hemorrhage, convulsions, asphyxia and acidosis. Neonatal complications were compared between male and female term infants, as well as male and female term small-for-gestational age (SGA) neonates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  37,342 singleton neonates were born ≥37 weeks' gestation. 19,112 neonates were males. Birth weight, cesarean sections and operative deliveries were significantly higher for males. Neonatal hypoglycemia and immediate neurological complications were significantly more frequent in males. For term SGA's, low 5-min apgar scores (<7) at 39-40 weeks were 2.65 times higher for males compared with females, as was hypoglycemia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Male infants at term, especially male SGA infants, are more likely to encounter complications during labor and require special neonatal care due to metabolic and/or neurological complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gyneocology, Sheba Medical Center , Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan , Israel .
authors.forename: Michal J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Simchen
authors.forename: Boaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weisz
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zilberberg
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Morag
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weissmann-Brenner
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sivan
authors.forename: Mordechai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dulitzki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012744:Sex Ratio; D055815:Young Adult