The Newborn Heart and Circulation

In a 1959 article exploring the physiology of newborn transition, Dr G.S. Dawes1 pointed to striking differences between the newborn and adult cardiac responses to challenges and made a fervent appeal that the cardiovascular function of the newborn should not be taken for granted just because it appears to be more resilient. “The task with which the cardiovascular system of a newborn creature is faced is not the same, quantitatively, as that in an adult. Distinct differences include the ability to survive in the total absence of oxygen….in the presence of anoxia from which any adult would rapidly succumb.” Indeed, a large epidemiologic study of apparently stillborn newborns published in 1989 showed intact survival in up to one-third of the cohort.
Source: Clinics in Perinatology - Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Tags: Foreword Source Type: research