[Abandonment-adoption: experience at the neonatology service of the University Hospital Center in Sousse, Tunisia]. / Abandon-adoption: expérience du service de néonatalogie du CHU de Sousse, Tunisie.

We studied the outcome of 178 newborns abandoned in the maternity hospital of Sousse, Tunisia during the past eight years. The natural mothers are frequently very young: 40% less than 20 years of age, 10% less than 16 years. In most cases (65%), there is no medical supervision of the pregnancy. There is a high rate of pathological deliveries (11%) and a small for date infants. As a consequence of a long hospitalization in neonatal unit, these infants have important morbidity and mortality. The minimum annual adoption rate is 77%. Most adoptive parents are middle class Tunisians and the large majority of adoptions are successful.