National Women's Annual Clinical Report 2010

9.2 NICU occupancy
For 2010 the very high occupancy that was observed for 2007-9 has continued. The
occupancy of 14982 bed days is equivalent to a mean of 41 babies per day. It is worth noting
that for 2010 the occupancy for infants born at 28 to 31 weeks gestation is approximately the
same as that for infants born 32 to 36 weeks gestation. Although the number of births
increases with an increasing gestational age the duration of stay decreases, as the infants
require less time to achieve maturity. However immature babies have a more complex
course and with the two Waitemata units caring for their level 2 babies the overall acuity of
the ACH unit has risen for a given occupancy.
Table 75: Occupancy (baby days) on NICU (2000– 2010)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Baby days 20652 20108 20551 19249 14958 14541 14212 15228 15296 15236 14982
Baby-days
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
=37
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Figure 79: Occupancy (baby days per year) of NICU by gestational age
Baby-days
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
=2500
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Figure 80: Occupancy (baby days per year) of NICU by birth weight
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