Table 2.

Neonatal characteristics: Significance tests for birth weight, Apgar score, head circumference, length, and blood pH are based on t tests; the rest are based on χ2 tests.

CHARACTERISTICTOTAL PREGNANCIES N = 1206EXPOSED PREGNANCIES N = 300PVALUE
Mean (SD) birth weight, g3526.3 (556.1)3420.8 (538.6)< .001*
Mean (SD) Apgar score at 1 min8.5 (1.1)8.5 (1.3).794
Mean (SD) Apgar score at 5 min9.0 (0.5)8.9 (0.7).148
Mean (SD) head circumference, cm35.0 (1.7)34.8 (1.5).103
Mean (SD) length, cm50.9 (3.2)50.5 (3.2).011*
Mean (SD) arterial pH7.24 (0.09)7.25 (0.08).211
Mean (SD) venous pH7.30 (0.24)7.31 (0.08).254
Preterm birth (< 37 wk), n (%)54 (4.5)16 (5.3).408
NAS, n (%)54 (4.5)54 (18.0)< .001*
Finnegan score ≥ 8,† n (%)32 (2.7)32 (10.7)< .001*
Male sex, n (%)596 (49.4)136 (45.3).099
Transfers out, n (%)18 (1.5)8 (2.7).093
Stillbirths, n (%)12 (1.0)3 (1.0)1.0

  • NAS—neonatal abstinence syndrome.

  • ↵* Statistically significant difference between exposed and nonexposed pregnancies.

  • ↵† Finnegan scores ≥ 8 indicate a need for pharmacologic treatment of the neonate for NAS.