Changes in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit statistics during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: With the identification of COVID-19 disease in China, a pandemic began that affected health-care systems.The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Hospital de Ginecobstetricia del Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente experienced an increase in patient flow as part of the COVID-19 strategy of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS).This study aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neonatal care and mortality indicators in our unit.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to compare the number of hospital births, pre-term newborns (PTNB), NICU admissions, and deaths.Changes in frequencies between 2019 and 2021 were analyzed using Poisson distribution.Changes in PTNB births, proportion of admissions, and deaths/NICU discharges were analyzed by z-test for two proportions.Results: Between 2019 and 2021, the number of births increased by more than 2-fold.NICU admissions increased from 770 in 2019 to 1045 in 2021 (p < 0.01).The ratio of deaths/discharge from the service was 16.9% in 2019 and 13.1% in 2021 (p = 0.02).Conclusions: Mortality indicators in the NICU decreased from 2019 to 2021, even with the increase in the number of patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic.