Neonatal neurological examination during the first 6h after birth

Few neurological assessments are easily performed during the first 6h after birth.

To assess a cohort of low risk term born newborns within the first 6h and at 48h after birth using the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination.

A population of low risk term born newborns was examined within 3h from birth or between 3 and 6h. Each infant was re-assessed at 48h, establishing the range and frequency distribution of neonatal neurological scores at each time point.

Of the 124 full-term born newborns, 62 were assessed at 0-3h and 62 at 3-6h. All infants were re-assessed at 48h. For 23/34 of the neurological items, the range and median scores were similar across the 3 time points. In the remaining 11 items the three groups had a similar range of scores but the median scores were different with different rates of changes. In 6 of the 11 the median scores at 3-6h were similar to those observed at 48h but they appeared to be 'less mature' at 0-3h. Only in one item the median scores were consistently different at the 3 time points.

Our results suggest that a neurological examination can already be reliably performed soon after birth. These findings will help in the interpretation of the few items that show changes with increasing postnatal age.