ABSTRACT
A newborn baby should have a respiratory rate between 40 and 60 breaths per minute. Signs of respiratory distress include tachypnoea, indrawing, recession, nasal flaring and moaning/grunting. The moaning or grunting is heard at the end of expiration and represents the infant trying to increase its positive end expiratory pressure. Pneumothorax is more common after positive pressure ventilation in delivery suite, and if there has been meconium staining the baby can have meconium aspiration syndrome. Other problems outside the respiratory systems can cause respiratory distress in the newborn. These include sepsis, polycythaemia and cardiac problems causing heart failure. When interpreting the oxygen saturation in the newborn it is important to have a basic understanding of normal neonatal physiology. The newborn infant has a higher white cell count that an adult or older child. In sepsis the white cell count can either be increased or low.
