Consensus and controversy over resuscitation of the ne wborn infant

Abstract

Resuscitation organisations represented on the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), together with two paediatric resuscitation organisations and WHO, have produced a consensus statement on advanced life support for newborn babies. 1 Kattwinkel J Niermeyer S Nadkarni V et al. Resuscitation of the newly born infant: an advisory statement from the Pediatric Working Group of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. Circulation. 1999; 99: 1927-1938 Crossref PubMed Scopus (79) Google Scholar Basic life support for these children had been addressed in a previous statement. 2 Nadkarni V Hazinski MF Sideman D et al. Pediatric resuscitation: an advisory statement from the Pediatric Working Group of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. Circulation. 1997; 95: 2185-2195 Crossref PubMed Scopus (57) Google Scholar The issues addressed in the new statement will have a broad impact. WHO estimates that every year there are one million neonatal deaths attributable to birth asphyxia. 3 World Health Report 1995. WHO, Geneva1997: 21 Google Scholar The impact of birth asphyxia is smaller in more developed countries; in the USA, only 3378 deaths out of almost 4 million births can be ascribed to birth asphyxia (456 deaths) or other complications related to delivery (2922 deaths). 4 Guyer B MacDorman MF Martin JA Peters KD Strobino DM Annual summary of vital statistics-1997. Pediatrics. 1998; 102: 1333-1349 Crossref PubMed Scopus (135) Google Scholar