The frequency of admission to neonatal intensive care units is higher in Denmark than in the UK. The organization of the paediatric departments varies from county to county in Denmark. To investigate possible differences due to the organization, the records for all hospitalized newborns in a one year period in two counties (FR and FU) were studied. The rate of prematurity was higher in county FU than in FR, but, surprisingly, the admission rate was lowest in county FU. For full term infants the highest admission rate was found in county FR, where more infants were treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure compared to FU. Short admissions were more common in FR. The on-call paediatrician is a senior doctor in FU, whereas it is a junior doctor in FR, and this could be a possible explanation for the differences between the two counties.