Babies are admitted to a special care nursery (SCN) or neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) if they require more specialised medical care and treatment than is available on the postnatal ward. Data are limited to liveborn babies who were born in hospital and discharged home and may not include babies who were transferred between hospitals and then admitted to an SCN or NICU. Data exclude New South Wales and Western Australia.
In 2023, almost 1 in 5 (18%) babies required admission to SCN or NICU. This proportion has remained stable over time, ranging between 16% and 18% between 2010 and 2023. Babies were more likely to require admission if they were a twin (62%), were born pre-term (78%), were First Nations (26%), or were of low birthweight (76%).
Figure 1 presents trend data on the admission to SCN or NICU status of liveborn babies, by selected maternal and baby characteristics, between 2010 (or earliest available year of data) and 2023. Select the ‘Current data’ button to view 2023 data.
