title: Saving Newborn Babies - The Benefits of Interventions in Neonatal Care in Norway over More Than 40 Years.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the effect that the introduction of new medical interventions at birth has had on mortality among newborn babies in Norway during the period 1967-2011. During this period, there has been a significant decline in mortality, in particular for low birth weight infants. We identified four interventions that together explained about 50% of the decline in early neonatal and infant mortality: ventilators, antenatal steroids, surfactant and insure. The analyses were performed on a large set of data, encompassing more than 1.6 million deliveries (Medical Birth Registry of Norway). The richness of the data allowed us to perform several robustness tests. Our study indicates that the introduction of new medical interventions has been a very important channel through which the decline in mortality among newborn babies occurred during the second half of the last century. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors: Department of Community Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
authors: Jostein
authors: J
authors: Grytten
authors: Department of Community Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Oslo, Norway.
authors: Lars
authors: L
authors: Monkerud
authors: Department of Community Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors: Irene
authors: I
authors: Skau
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Eskild
authors: BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway.
authors: Rune J
authors: RJ
authors: Sørensen
authors: Department of Pediatric Research, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors: Ola Didrik
authors: OD
authors: Saugstad
mesh_terms: D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D009664:Norway; D066087:Perinatal Death / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012042:Registries; D013256:Steroids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014691:Ventilation
chemical_list: D013256:Steroids
keywords: antenatal steroids; births; infant mortality and neonatal mortality; medical interventions; surfactant; ventilators