Resuscitation - Newborn Life Support

I found this Awesome information in regards to the resuscitation of a newborn and newborn life support. The thought of having to do this to my own baby completely freaks me out, but knowing the information helps me feel more confident. I have done CPR on adults in the hospital before but to a newborn it is much different. It made me fell a little more comfortable when it was stating that most babies at term will not need this. It also reassured me by basically saying that in most cases a few puffs of air to open the lungs is all that you need.

Here is the link.
(I had to save it to Google Docs, so that I could post it, since it is in Pdf. format)

Resuscitation, Newborn Life Support Document

Suction

I keep reading articles that state that suctioning at birth is unnecessary. When my first was born the nurses quickly cut the cord, and swept her away for deep suctioning. I thought something might be wrong but they said that it was their normal hospital policy. 

She had a severe reflux problem for the first year of life and I later want to study if it had somethign to do with them suctioning like that after birth. It seems more and more babies that I know are having the reflux problem and I have to wonder if they were deep suctioned after birth.

If having your baby in the hospital you may consider thinking about this.


I will have a bulb syringe and a DeLee Mucus trap for deeper suction if necessary. I was told by a midwife that you only use the Mucus trap if there is meconium present And the baby is having trouble breathing.

Oxygen Levels Slowly Rise After Birth

I had recently read another blog post stating that some babies slowly transition to breath, (within a few minutes) and that a mother, or health care professional, should not panic, cut the cord and wisk the baby off for suction and oxygen. I remember with my first, they quickly cut the cord, and did the hospital policly of deep suction, with a tube down her nose.

I just read this article about a babies oxygen level. I don't understand all of it completely but from what I do understand is that a babies oxygen level slowly rises within the first 15 min. of birth. And to me again, another reason to wait to cut the umbilical cord. Here is the full article. Oxygen Level After Birth

Danger of Oxygen During Labor ?

I am wanting to set up my bedroom like a hospital room, with all the necessary supplies. I am planning on going next week to the local hospital to find out where I can get an oxygen tank and oxygen. Even if I were to get an oxygen tank shipped from America to Tanzania, I might not be able to have a way to get it filled. Researching oxygen got me wondering when/if I should use it and are there any dangers/risk from over using it. From what I have seen is that if there is an obvious change in the babies heart rate, then you should give the mom some oxygen, and get her changing positions. But in America the practice of giving oxygen, just in case, is becoming more and more common. Some say that oxygen is just air and that it causes no danger, so why not? I am doing more research on this but this is one article stating their trial results on this topic. It states,

"The effect of maternal oxygen administration during the second stage of labor on umbilical cord blood gas values: a randomized controlled prospective trial

Article Abstract:

Administering oxygen for longer than 10 minutes during pushing appears to have an adverse effect on the fetus. Eighty-six women in normal labor with a healthy, term fetus were randomly assigned to receive oxygen via mask during the pushing phase of labor. A blood sample was taken from the umbilical vein after birth and analyzed. As the length of oxygen therapy increased beyond 10 minutes, the pH of the baby's blood declined. Low pH is a symptom of decreased oxygen, although no baby experienced fetal distress. Results may not be applicable to different situations, as, for example, when the baby already lacks oxygen. Several studies have shown that although oxygen is often administered liberally in labor to the mother to improve fetal oxygenation, its use can have this adverse effect. Laboratory studies have shown that umbilical and placental blood vessels constrict in the presence of abnormally high amounts of oxygen, which may be the cause of this phenomenon."

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Health/The-effect-of-maternal-oxygen-administration-during-the-second-stage-of-labor-on-umbilical-cord-bloo.html#ixzz1JfcGDBeg

When and how to use oxygen during labor.

This is a question that I was asking myself. Basically I came to the conclusion that if there seems to be fetal distress, as detected by fetal heart rate monitoring, then the mother can receive oxygen along with interventions, such as changing positions. 

"Intra-uterine resuscitation is designed to immediately reduce the stress on the unborn baby by instructing the mother NOT to push, use of anti-gravity positions, lying left side, bolus of IV fluids, etc. 

Administration of maternal 02 due to fetal bradycardia should also be noted on the FHT graph. 

Maternal O2 at 8 liter via tight fitting mask is recommended for evidence of fetal hypoxia. 

Midwives need to anticipate that intrauterine resuscitation will be followed by the need to perform neonatal resuscitation. Oxygen supplies should be adequate to meet the needs of both procedures. In that regard, it is useful for the second call midwife to also make available her own cylinder of oxygen as a backup. "

College of Midwives Website