HYGEIA GROUP

28.03.2014 Share

Neonatal mortality at the MITERA Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) dropped to the record rate of 0.86‰ (per thousand) in 2013, while infections in the Unit sharply decreased in the three-year period 2011-2013. From the children born at MITERA, 99.86% survive, while the respective rate for newborns admitted to the NICU is 99.4%.

Neonatal mortality (death of a newborn in the first 4 weeks of its life) is internationally considered the most reliable index for assessing the quality of healthcare services in NICUs and one of the best healthcare service indexes nationally.

In 2011, the neonatal mortality rate in Greece was 3.23%, while there are no data available for the years 2012 and 2013.

Apart from the remarkable drop in neonatal mortality at MITERA to 1.75‰ in 2012 and to 0.86‰ in 2013, another significant achievement was the massive reduction in infections at the NICU. Out of the 4,720 newborns hospitalized between 2011 and 2013, the rate of neonates with positive blood cultures was very low (just 7.69%), while no neonates died either due to early-onset (i.e. less than 72 hours after birth) or late-onset (i.e. over 72 hours after birth) neonatal sepsis. Moreover, no multi-drug resistant bacteria were isolated in the NICU.

On the other hand, internationally, the neonatal mortality rate due to sepsis is very high, ranging between 26% and 41% for early-onset and between 9.1% and 36% for late-onset neonatal sepsis.

Dr. Meni Saklamaki-Kontou, Pediatrician/Neonatologist and Director of the MITERA NICU, noted, "The remarkable drop in neonatal mortality at MITERA to 0.86‰ in 2013 and the zero mortality from infections at the NICU have ranked our Unit - the most organized such Unit to operate within a private maternity hospital - among the best ones worldwide. Our achievements encourage us to continue our efforts and demonstrate the same enthusiasm and self-sacrifice so as to offer top-level healthcare services to our young patients."