According to the Emirates News Agency, Corniche Hospital leads neonatal care with landmark study on very preterm infant outcomes that reviewed cases spanning more than a decade at the Abu Dhabi facility. The analysis covered infants born between 23 and 28 weeks gestation and documented survival rates exceeding 85 percent for those receiving immediate specialized interventions upon delivery. Hospital clinicians attributed the results to standardized protocols that emphasize early respiratory support and infection control measures applied consistently across the neonatal intensive care unit.
The World Health Organization estimates that preterm births account for roughly 10 percent of live deliveries globally each year and remain the leading cause of death among children under five years old. In the UAE, Ministry of Health and Prevention figures indicate that very preterm cases constitute a small but resource-intensive segment of annual births, prompting investment in advanced neonatal units across major emirates. Corniche Hospital’s dataset, drawn from more than 500 verified admissions, places its performance above many comparable centers in high-income settings, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Neonatologists at the hospital implemented a bundle of evidence-based practices that include antenatal corticosteroid administration when preterm labor is suspected and immediate transfer to a level-three neonatal intensive care unit equipped with high-frequency ventilators. Follow-up assessments at 18 and 24 months showed that more than 70 percent of surviving infants achieved age-appropriate developmental milestones in motor and cognitive domains. These longitudinal findings were compiled through collaboration with pediatric rehabilitation specialists who tracked participants after discharge.
Corniche Hospital, operated by SEHA, functions as the emirate’s primary tertiary maternity and neonatal referral center with more than 400 beds dedicated to women’s and children’s services. The facility handles approximately 8,000 deliveries annually, a volume that has steadily increased since its relocation to a new campus in 2015, according to health authority statistics. Its neonatal team comprises more than 50 board-certified specialists and nurses trained in perinatal medicine at international centers in Europe and North America.
Regional benchmarks published by the Gulf Cooperation Council health ministers’ council indicate that neonatal mortality rates across member states have declined by nearly 40 percent since 2010, yet very preterm infants continue to face elevated risks of complications such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia and retinopathy of prematurity. The Corniche study recorded lower incidences of these conditions than the GCC average, a detail the Emirates News Agency highlighted when summarizing the paper’s conclusions. Researchers emphasized that consistent application of humidified high-flow nasal cannula therapy played a measurable role in reducing chronic lung disease.
Data from the study will be submitted to an international neonatal network for comparative benchmarking, the hospital said in a statement released alongside the findings. Officials noted that the results underscore the importance of centralized care for high-risk pregnancies and the value of ongoing staff training in neonatal resuscitation programs certified by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Future research at the facility will expand to include genetic markers that may predict outcomes in this vulnerable population.
