Central and peripheral neural respiratory activity in the mature sheep foetus and newborn lamb

Activity from respiratory neurones in the medulla, the phrenic and intercostal nerves was recorded in 25 foetal sheep, exteriorized a few days before term from ewes given a spinal anaesthetic, and from nine newborn lambs, anaesthetized with an allobarbitone-urethane mixture. In 12 foetuses, there was little or no sustained respiratory activity, central activity consisting of tonically discharging expiratory and other neurones and silent inspiratory neurones. In the remaining 13 foetuses, respiratory activity was periodic or continuous and it was possible to confirm that the motor component of the respiratory reflex was mature, that apnoea was not due to medullary depression, that foetal respiration was unaffected by chemoreceptor stimulation, by noise, by light, by electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve and only slightly by inflation or deflation of the lungs. All these stimuli were effective shortly after birth. Occlusion of the umbilical cord caused poorly sustained gasps in the "non-breathing" foetuses and in the "breathing" foetuses, abolition of inspiratory and expiratory activity in the medulla and the onset of gasps and flattening of the electro-corticogram. Rhythmic respiration resumed after release of the cord with a latency which varied with the duration and severity of the asphyxia. This type of respiratory depression was not reflex but due to a direct, central action of hypoxia. The sequence of respiratory events at birth is discussed.