Delimitation of blood pressure in healthy newborns

Abstract

Blood pressure (BP) is one of the four vital signs that best reflect cardiovascular status during the physical examination of newborns. Adequate monitoring of vital signs is essential to optimize the management of neonates; therefore, BP measurements should be obtained and recorded throughout their ongoing care. A prospective observational study was carried out, selecting 836 healthy full-term newborns in a maternity hospital in the Federal District. Blood pressures were measured in the delivery room within the first two hours of life using an MX-600 GE automatic oscillometric device, following the hospital's standard care protocol. Maternal and neonatal data were measured to correlate systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure percentiles. The measurements obtained were systolic BP 64.89 ± 10.7 mmHg and diastolic BP 37.60 ± 11.7 mmHg in males and systolic BP 66.46 ± 10.9 mmHg and diastolic BP 39.52 ± 12.3 mmHg in females. This article strengthens neonatal care by establishing normative blood pressure values.