Ventilation strategies in the depressed term infant.

The transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life requires the lungs to change from being fluid-filled to air-filled and for regular, spontaneous respiration to become established. Many infants do not achieve this transition promptly without assistance and are given some form of artificial ventilation. Professional guidelines advocate the establishment of effective ventilation as the primary objective in the management of the apneic or bradycardic newborn infant in the delivery room. Considering the frequency with which neonatal resuscitation is performed, and the variety of devices available for resuscitating newly born infants, there have been relatively few prospective, randomized, clinical studies in newborns on which to base recommendations for practice. Much of the information comes from small case series, studies performed in asphyxiated or immature animals, and in-vitro tests.