Causes of shortness of breath in newborn babies

Many newborn babies breathe rapidly. When this happens, many parents are particularly worried, because abnormal breathing means that there is a problem with the child's lungs. So many parents want to fully understand the reasons for the rapid breathing of newborn babies. In order for you to fully understand the causes, let's take a look at the detailed introduction below.

Neonatal infectious pneumonia

The infection can occur before birth, during delivery, or after birth, so the onset of the disease may be early or late. The children have poor reactions, poor appetite, weak sucking, foam at the mouth, and often have difficulty breathing and cyanosis. Some children have coughing symptoms, while others have respiratory arrest. Most children have fine bubbling sounds in their lungs, but some children have no obvious signs and need to be confirmed by X-ray examination. In addition to selecting antibacterial drugs according to the pathogen, those who are short of breath and cyanosis need oxygen supply, and nutritional maintenance and keeping warm are also very important.

Most children require hospitalization. If the mother has infection during labor or premature rupture of membranes, the newborn may be given antibiotics for prevention as appropriate, and the newborn should be treated promptly if he or she has an upper respiratory tract infection.

Aspiration pneumonia

Refers to pneumonia caused by aspiration of amniotic fluid or meconium. If the fetus is deprived of oxygen in the uterus or during delivery, respiratory movements may occur, resulting in inhalation of amniotic fluid or amniotic fluid containing meconium. This situation is relatively more likely to occur in full-term small-for-size infants and post-term infants. Generally, there are symptoms such as shortness of breath and cyanosis right after birth, and bubbling sounds can be heard when auscultating the lungs.

Meconium aspiration is more likely to cause pneumothorax. For mild cases, symptoms can be alleviated within 1 to 2 days, while severe cases can lead to respiratory failure. Avoiding intrauterine hypoxia is the key to preventing this disease. If amniotic fluid or meconium has been aspirated, the aspirated material should be sucked out as soon as possible.

Wet lungs

Also known as transient tachypnea of ​​the newborn. It occurs more often in full-term or post-term infants. Children with a history of asphyxia at birth or who were delivered by caesarean section are more likely to develop the disease. The child may experience rapid breathing 2 to 5 hours after birth: breathing more than 60 times/minute, sometimes accompanied by cyanosis and groaning, but the child is generally in good condition. This disease is a self-limiting disease and usually returns to normal within 2 to 4 days. Oxygen inhalation can be given if there is shortness of breath or cyanosis.

Neonatal hyaline membrane disease

Also known as idiopathic neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. It mainly occurs in premature infants and is more likely to occur in premature infants who suffer from hypoxia, blood loss, caesarean section or whose mothers have diabetes before delivery. The alveoli of these children lack surfactant, which is a substance that reduces the surface tension of the alveoli and prevents them from collapsing during exhalation. Therefore, the surface tension of the alveoli is high during exhalation and they tend to collapse. It takes a lot of effort to open the alveoli again during inhalation. The child has rapid breathing soon after birth, and the symptoms are obvious after 5 to 6 hours: rapid breathing accompanied by groaning during exhalation, three-point depression sign during inspiration, cyanosis, and apnea. There is often marked hypoxia and acidosis. The 2nd to 3rd day is the severe stage of the disease. The disease is more serious and has a high mortality rate.

We must take good care of ourselves during pregnancy, prevent premature birth, avoid perinatal asphyxia, and keep the baby warm during birth. Drawing amniotic fluid to measure the ratio of lecithin and sphingomyelin can help understand the maturity of the fetal lungs. For those whose lungs are not yet mature, betamethasone or dexamethasone can be given to the pregnant woman to promote the maturity of the fetal lungs.

As for symptoms of difficulty breathing due to heart disease, central nervous system diseases, and metabolic diseases, it often indicates that the condition is serious, so newborns with such symptoms should go to the hospital for treatment.

I believe many parents have already gained a comprehensive understanding of the causes of shortness of breath in newborn babies through this article. Therefore, after fully understanding the causes, in order to prevent their children from experiencing shortness of breath and causing serious damage, they must undergo a comprehensive examination to find out the cause and improve it through treatment as soon as possible.