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Aim: The study aims to describe the cohort of women and babies who are classified as small-for-gestational age (SGA) at term by both an Australian customised birthweight model (CBM) and a commonly used population-based standard, and to investigate and compare the utility of these models in identifying babies at risk of experiencing adverse outcomes, Methods: Routinely collected data on 54 890 singleton-term births at the Mater Mothers' Hospitals, Brisbane, with birthweight less than 4000 g between January 1997 and December 2008, was extracted. Each birth was classified as SGA (<10th centile) or not SGA by either and/or both methods: population-based standards (SGApop ) and CBM (SGAcust ). Babies classified as SGApop , SGAcust or SGAboth were compared with those not classified as SGA by both methods using relative risk and 95% confidence interval, and those only classified as SGAcust were compared with those only classified as SGApop . Maternal demographics, maternal risk factors for fetal growth restriction, pregnancy and labour complications and adverse neonatal outcomes are reported., Results:  A total of 4768 (8.7%) births were classified as SGApop , while 6479 (11.8%) were SGAcust of whom 4138 (63.9%) were also classified as SGApop . Maternal risk factors such as smoking and hypertension were statistically higher for the SGAcust group when compared with SGApop . For the majority of adverse neonatal outcomes, a trend was noted to increased identification using the CBM., Conclusion: The CBM provides a modest improvement when compared to a population-based standard to identity term infants at birth who are at risk of adverse neonatal outcomes., (© 2013 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).)

Aim: To compare post-neonatal mortality among urban and rural Indigenous babies in Queensland., Methods: Registrations of deaths at ages 28 days to 12 months were linked to routine data from the Queensland Perinatal Data Collection., Results: Indigenous babies were 2.52 times more likely to die during the post-neonatal period than non-Indigenous babies (95% confidence interval: 1.99, 3.20). The differential remained when urban and rural areas were examined separately: the differential was 2.53 (1.81, 3.54) in urban areas and 2.26 (1.58, 3.23) in rural areas., Conclusion: The key demographic variable that determines post-neonatal mortality in Queensland is Indigenous status, not rurality. This has important policy implications because it means that interventions to reduce the disparity in mortality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous babies should be delivered in urban as well as rural areas. Better routine data are needed and in particular clinical classification of deaths, so that interventions can be monitored and avoidable factors identified.