Attention to Enteral Feeding Practices Can Improve Growth Outcomes in VLBW Infants in New York State

Through regionalization and collaboration driven by data, neonatal outcomes can be evaluated and improved. In addition to the nationally accepted regionalization recommendations, New York State has an additional level. The additional level referred to as Regional Perinatal Centers (RPCs) provide oversight to birthing hospitals within their regions. The improvement project discussed in this article is related to improving extra-uterine growth in very preterm babies born less than 31 weeks gestation. This improvement was driven by the RPCs in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health's Bureau of Women's Health through the New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative.