ABSTRACT
Infants with birth weights of 1500 g or less who were born at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania between October 1982 and December 1984 were randomly assigned to one of two groups, after their parents gave informed consent to their participation in the study. Infants in the control group were discharged according to routine nursery policy, which required that the infant be clinically well, feeding well and weigh approximately 2200 g.Although parents received support and instructions from nursery nurses about their infant and his or her care after discharge, no routine home follow-up care by nurses was provided for this group.
