Study of Pulse Oximetry Trends in Normal Newborn

Abstract

Objectives To study oxygen saturation trends in newborns at birth and up to 15 min of life. Material and methods A prospective observational study was conducted on 300 healthy term and preterm newborns (those who did not require supplemental oxygen) delivered by SVD and LSCS at a tertiary care Centre. The convenience sampling technique was used based on the fact about 3–4 deliveries take place daily, and only a proportion of these met the study inclusion criteria. Results At 5 min of life, 0.7% of male newborns and 0.63% of female newborns had SpO2 levels above 90%. All male and female newborns reached SpO2 > 90% at 15 min of life, compared to 78.87% of male newborns and 71.52% of female newborns at 10 min of life. Male and female newborns revealed no statistically significant difference in saturations and in time to reach SpO2 > 90% at 5, 10, and 15 min of life. Newborns born via LSCS had lower SpO2 than newborns delivered by SVD in 5, 10, and 15 min, respectively, and this difference was statistically significant ( p < 0.0001). Conclusion The relationship between SpO2 and gender was not statistically different. Compared to newborns delivered by SVD, SpO2 was significantly lower in newborns born via LSCS and required less time to reach >90% saturation.