OBJECTIVE: To investigate the birth state of neonates and the disease spectrum of hospitalized neonates from a primary hospital, and compare with the national data of the same period. METHODS: A retrospective investigation was carried out in 1 434 neonates born or hospitalized in this hospital from January 2005 to December 2005. RESULTS: During the investigation period, there were 1 100 neonates born in the department of obstetrics. The incidence of premature birth was 2.3%. The caesarean birth accounted for 54.2%, significantly higher than the national average (49.2%, P<0.01). The neonatal mortality was 0.2%. The incidences of antepartum hemorrhage, threatened abortion, and pregnancy infection in preterm infant's mothers were significantly higher than those in full-term infant's mothers. A total of 344 neonates were admitted to the department of pediatrics during the investigation period. Preterm infants accounted for 38.0% which was higher than the national average (26.2%; P<0.01). Beside preterm infants, asphyxia, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), sepsis and intracranial hemorrhage were shown to have a significantly higher proportion than the national averages. The mortality of hospitalized neonates was 0.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The higher cesarean section rate should be controlled in our hospital. Prenatal health care and fetal monitoring should be strengthened to decrease the incidence of premature birth, RDS, sepsis and intracranial hemorrhage, thus reducing the mortality of neonates.［Chin J Contemp Pediatr, 2009, 11 (9):736-739］