Lower Discharge Weight and Shortened Nursery Stay for Low-Birth-Weight Infants

Abstract

Four hundred and ten infants whose birth weights were 2268 g or less were randomly assigned at birth to Group A (mean discharge weight of 2076 g) or Group B (mean discharge weight of 2295 g). The mean duration of nursery stay was 18.7 days for Group A and 25.4 days for Group B. Differences in weight gain between Groups A and B were not significant for infants who returned to the clinic at one and four weeks, and for those who returned at random during the same period. Eight of 183 Group A infants and 10 of 198 Group B infants were readmitted to the hospital within four weeks of discharge.