A New Zealand Neonatal Service 

Introduction
The success of modern technology in reducing infant mortality is nowhere more evident than in the neonatal intensive care unit.  The achievements of such units in New Zealand compare favourably with other developed countries, but our post-neonatal mortality remains high by the same comparison.  It is now recognised that a involuntary contributor to poor post neonatal mortality rates may have been the very success of neonatal intensive care, which often preserves life only to place exacting demands on parents as health care providers after the neonates’ discharge from hospital.