What is already known on this topic?: A new conceptual term, small and vulnerable newborns (SVN), bringing preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), or low birth weight (LBW) together is being advocated for assessing whether a child is at high risk.
What is added by this report?: According to the new conceptual term, the increasing incidence of high-risk newborns (from 9.82% to 10.96%) has been observed among 2,005,408 newborns over the period from 2013 to 2022, which is higher than using any of the three definitions of SVN. Maternal age ≥35, primiparity, and multiple births are high risks for SVN.
What are the implications for public health practice?: The new conceptual framework should be used to better assess the number of high-risk newborns. Attention should be paid to multiple births to prevent preterm-related SVN. To reduce term newborns who are SGA, we need to be concerned not only with multiple pregnancies but also with first-time mothers.
Keywords: Small and Vulnerable Newborns (SVN); low birth weight (LBW); preterm; small for gestational age (SGA).
Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2024.