Specific complications (pregnancy, birth, and neonatal) of very low birthweight infants classified as small for gestational age (SGA) or appropriate weight for gestational age matched according to birth weight (AGA-BW) or gestation (AGA-GA) (percentages)
| AGA-BW | SGA | AGA-GA | |
| During pregnancy | |||
| Maternal smoking (% smoking > 1/day) | 26.6 | 20.4 | 18.2 |
| If yes, cigarettes/day | 6.9 (0.66) | 11.4 (1.4) | 9.4 (1.3) |
| Paternal smoking (% smoking > 1/day) | 37.6 | 43.9 | 42.9 |
| If yes, cigarettes/day | 17.8 (1.2) | 19.3 (1.4) | 17.1 (1.3) |
| Pre-eclampsia | 40.2* | 26.0 | 50.0*** |
| Premature labour | 66.4 | 55.8 | 55.8 |
| Illness/accident during pregnancy | 27.2 | 24.3 | 25.2 |
| At birth | |||
| Amnion infection | 31.3 | 26.1 | 20.0 |
| Anaesthesia | 11.2 | 10.6 | 18.3 |
| Caesarian section | 54.2** | 75.0 | 51.9*** |
| Placenta praevia | 7.0 | 3.5 | 8.7 |
| Neonatal | |||
| Intubation | 71.0*** | 44.2 | 24.0** |
| Apgar 1 min < 9 or 5 min < 10 | 93.5*** | 76.9 | 71.2 |
| Outborn | 61.7 | 49.6 | 62.6* |
| Body temperature (⩽ 36°C) | 38.3 | 43.5 | 19.1*** |
| Apnoea, bradycardia | 84.3*** | 60.9 | 43.5** |
| Hyperbilirubinaemia | 16.1 | 22.7 | 51.0*** |
| Severe anaemia | 67.8 | 6.0 | 31.3*** |
| Sepsis (suspicion) | 49.6 | 49.6 | 36.5* |
| Poor weight gain (< 10th percentile after 10th day) | 59.1*** | 89.6 | 34.8*** |
| Surgery | 25.2 | 17.4 | 7.0* |
| Fits | 20.0* | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| Intraventricular haemorrhage (grade III/IV) | 11.3 | 5.2 | 17.4 |
Where appropriate, values are expressed as mean (SEM) (n = 115). All values are percentage scores and represent within group incidence of complications. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01,***p < 0.001 v SGA.