Objective: To design and implement a registry of infants weighing less than 1,500 g at birth in Spain.
Material and methods: Prospective, cohort, multicenter study. All live born infants weighing less than 1,500 g in several voluntarily participating neonatal units in public and private hospitals were included.
Results: In the first 4 years of the registry (2002 to 2005), 9,638 very-low-birth-weight infants were born in the 65 neonatal units that have so far joined the program.
Conclusions: The goal of very-low-birth-weight infant databases is to try to improve the quality and safety of the medical care given to these newborns and their families. This type of program helps to coordinate and promote several areas, including those of health education, training of medical staff, research and development, surveillance and quality improvement.