What is neonatal apnea? What should I do if neonatal apnea occurs?

What is neonatal apnea? Neonatal apnea is common in premature infants, with an incidence rate of 50 to 60 percent. Parents of premature newborns need to pay more attention. What is neonatal apnea? What should we do if neonatal apnea occurs? Let's learn more about it with the editor.

What is neonatal apnea?

1. Premature infants: The younger the gestational age and the lower the weight, the higher the incidence rate, which is mainly caused by the underdeveloped respiratory center. It is usually more common 2 to 18 days after birth, without other disease symptoms.

2. Hypoxemia: such as pneumonia, hyaline membrane disease, severe asphyxia, congenital heart disease, respiratory obstruction, anemia, decreased blood volume, etc.

3. Damage or dysfunction of the respiratory center: such as intracranial hemorrhage and infection, kernicterus, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hypokalemia, severe infection, shock, hyponatremia, etc.

4. Reflex: It can be caused by the accumulation of pharyngeal secretions or the stimulation of gastric tube insertion.

5. Temperature: It may also be caused by too high or too low ambient temperature.

Newborn precautions

If the apnea occurs secondary to other diseases, most of them are full-term infants. When apnea occurs, the cause should be found as appropriate, and timely rescue and intensive observation should be given.

If you suffer from sepsis, intracranial hemorrhage, open ductus arteriosus or necrotizing enterocolitis, the respiratory center may be suppressed, and sleep apnea is often an early manifestation of these diseases.

What is neonatal apnea?

Neonatal apnea refers to premature infants stopping breathing for more than 20 seconds, full-term infants stopping breathing for more than 15 seconds; or stopping breathing for no more than 15 to 20 seconds, but accompanied by a slow heartbeat, cyanosis or pale skin, and decreased muscle tone. If breathing resumes after 5 to 10 seconds of cessation, without symptoms such as a slow heartbeat, cyanosis or pale skin, it is called periodic breathing. Periodic breathing is benign, because the breathing cessation time is short, it does not affect gas exchange. However, apnea is a serious phenomenon. If not treated in time, long-term hypoxia can cause brain damage, which will have an impact on the future intellectual development of children. The disease has a high incidence in premature infants.

What to do if your baby stops breathing while sleeping

You can touch or push your baby to see if he responds. If not, call 120 immediately. Starting from June 1, 2009, Beijing Emergency Center has also equipped a newborn ambulance. If the baby's forehead or body trunk is blue, it means that his condition is very dangerous. But if the hands, feet or the skin around the mouth are a little blue, it is generally common in babies and is not abnormal.

If you know how to perform infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), start first aid immediately and have someone call 911. If you are alone, perform CPR for 2 minutes, call 911, and then continue CPR until the ambulance arrives or your baby resumes breathing.

Which babies are prone to sleep apnea?

Any baby can develop sleep apnea, but premature babies are more likely to have it. If a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, it's called apnea of ​​prematurity. If it's born after 37 weeks of pregnancy, it's called infantile apnea. The earlier your baby is born, the higher his chances of developing apnea.

Infants with congenital defects in the upper airway are at increased risk for sleep apnea. Complex high-risk diseases, including multiple severe craniofacial malformations, can cause upper airway obstruction in infants. More than half of infants with Down syndrome will have obstructive sleep apnea.