Perinatal asphyxia

Perinatal asphyxia is impaired oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide removal around birth. It can cause low blood oxygen, acidosis, and injury to a newborn’s organs.

Fetal oxygenation: The transfer of oxygen from maternal blood to fetal blood across the placenta and its delivery to fetal tissues. Disruption of this supply before birth can initiate perinatal asphyxia.
Neonatal resuscitation: Emergency interventions that establish breathing and circulation in a newborn who is not transitioning effectively after birth. It restores ventilation and circulation when a newborn is compromised at delivery.
Birth depression: Poor respiratory or neurological condition in a newborn immediately after delivery, with multiple possible causes. It describes a clinical presentation that can result from asphyxia but does not establish its cause.
Cerebral palsy: A group of permanent disorders of movement and posture caused by disturbances in the developing brain. Hypoxic-ischemic injury around birth is one possible pathway to cerebral palsy.
Hypoxemia: An abnormally low level of oxygen in arterial blood. It is a central blood-oxygen disturbance in perinatal asphyxia.
Apgar score: A rapid assessment of a newborn’s appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration after birth. It records the newborn’s condition but does not by itself diagnose asphyxia.
Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome: A newborn lung disorder caused mainly by surfactant deficiency, especially in premature infants. It can cause breathing difficulty and hypoxemia without an asphyxial event around birth.
Neonatal seizures: Seizures occurring during the first 28 days after birth, often reflecting acute brain dysfunction. They can signal brain injury after severe oxygen deprivation.
Respiratory acidosis: A reduction in blood pH caused by carbon dioxide accumulation when ventilation cannot remove it adequately. Impaired carbon dioxide removal can contribute to acidosis during asphyxia.
Umbilical cord blood gas analysis: Measurement of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and acid-base status in blood sampled from umbilical cord vessels. It helps assess acidemia around delivery as evidence of impaired gas exchange.

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Developmental disabilityRelated: Severe injury around birth can contribute to developmental impairments.