OBJECTIVE To determine whether obstetric team training in a medical simulation centre improves the team performance and utilisation of appropriate medical technical skills of healthcare professionals. DESIGN Cluster randomised controlled trial. SETTING The Netherlands. SAMPLE The obstetric departments of 24 Dutch hospitals. METHODS The obstetric departments were randomly assigned to a 1...

The cardiotocogram (CTG) is commonly used for routine fetal monitoring in the delivery room. A major problem is that the interpretation of the CTG trace requires experienced specialists. In order to avoid long gaps between the detection of a suspicious pattern and the intervention, the CTG has to be checked in short intervals. An automated monitoring system at the obstetric site can reduce such...

Tracheal agenesis is a rare congenital condition. It usually presents as an unexpected emergency during resuscitation of a newborn in the delivery room. The condition is almost always fatal in the resuscitation phase, but also when the neonate survives the long term prognosis remains poor. We present a case of tracheal agenesis, discuss its presenting symptoms and possibilities for antenatal di...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Pediatric residency training programs are graduating residents who are not competent in neonatal intubation, a vital skill needed for any pediatrician involved in delivery room resuscitations. However, a precise definition of competency during training is lacking. The objective of this study was to more precisely define the trajectory toward competency in neonatal intu...

OBJECTIVE Delivery room management of extremely premature infants is not subjected to professional regulations. In the United States, legal definitions of human viability and statutes regulating elective abortions vary by state, placing providers in an often difficult position regarding whether to attempt resuscitation when faced with the delivery of an infant of 22 to 25 weeks gestation. The o...

BACKGROUND Early neonatal mortality has remained high and unchanged for many years in Tanzania, a resource-limited country. Helping Babies Breathe (HBB), a novel educational program using basic interventions to enhance delivery room stabilization/resuscitation, has been developed to reduce the number of these deaths. METHODS Master trainers from the 3 major referral hospitals, 4 associated re...

OBJECTIVE To assess neonatologists' attitudes and practices regarding treatment of extremely preterm infants in the delivery room, particularly in response to parental wishes. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional survey of all neonatologists in Sweden registered with the Swedish Pediatric Society. RESULTS The response rate was 71% (88 of 124 neonatologists). At 24[1/7] to 24[6/7] weeks of gestation...

The fall in body temperature that occurs in babies soon after birth is influenced by the baby's weight and its environmental conditions. The rate of oxygen consumption 1 1/2 hours after birth was unrelated to body temperature and only slightly raised, indicating a limited thermogenic capacity. A radiant heater effectively prevented cooling in babies kept with their mothers in the delivery room....

BACKGROUND Surveys from the USA, Australia and Spain have shown significant inter-institutional variation in delivery room (DR) management of very low birth weight infants (VLBWI, <1500g) at birth, despite regularly updated international guidelines. OBJECTIVE To investigate protocols for DR management of VLBWI in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and to compare these with the 2005 ILCOR guidel...

This study evaluated the interrater reliability and perceived importance of components of a developed neonatal adaption score, Neonatal Resuscitation Adaptation Score (NRAS), for evaluation of resuscitation need in the delivery room for extremely premature to term infants. Similar to the Apgar, the NRAS highest score was 10, but greater weight was given to respiratory and cardiovascular paramet...