Risk for Post-Resuscitation Complications: Are Recovered Term Newborns All Better?

Transfer to an NICU for post-resuscitation care is recommended for all newborns who require active resuscitation in the delivery room, but some infants respond rapidly and do not require further intervention. To examine whether recovered neonates should be cared for in this type of setting, researchers at one perinatal center retrospectively compared medical charts of 33 term neonates who required active intervention but who seemingly recovered by 5 minutes of age (1-minute Apgar score ≤4, positive pressure ventilation during the first minute of life, 5-minute Apgar score ≥8) with those of a control group consisting of the next same-sex term infant with an Apgar score ≥8 delivered at the center.

Compared with controls, infants in the study g…