This measure includes Very Low Birth Weight (under 3 pounds 5 ounces or extremely premature) infants in the neonatal period between 0 and 28 days old. Babies with very low birth weight are at high risk for complications. Although many of the complications are not preventable, some are. This measure should be considered along with the “VLBW survival with known morbidity” measure in order to evaluate the percentage of VLBW babies that survived both with and without known morbidity.

About this measure

This measure tracks the percentage of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) babies with very low birth weight who survived.

We track this measure through our participation in the Vermont Oxford Network (VON), a voluntary non-profit organization of over 700 neonatal intensive care units. VON is a collaboration dedicated to improving the quality and safety of the care delivered in neonatal intensive care units.

Note: In this measure, a higher number is better.