Perinatal Morbidity and Health Utilization among Mothers of Medically Fragile Infants.

OBJECTIVE:To determine the burden of perinatal morbidity among mothers of medically fragile infants. STUDY DESIGN:We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 6849 mothers who delivered liveborn infants at a quaternary care hospital during a two-year period. We compared mothers of well babies with mothers of infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and we used logistic regression to model predictors of postpartum acute care utilization among NICU mothers. RESULTS:Rates of obstetric morbidity were highest for mothers of infants staying ≥72 h in the NICU; 54.2% underwent cesarean birth, 7.5% experienced severe maternal morbidity, and 6.6% required a blood transfusion. Factors independently associated with postpartum acute care use included gestational age <28 weeks, ever smoking, non-Hispanic Black race, temperature >38 °C and receiving psychiatric medication during the birth hospitalization. CONCLUSION:Focused support for mothers of NICU infants has the potential to reduce maternal morbidity and improve health.