Oxygen Therapy for Neonatal Resuscitation in the Delivery Room

Oxygen is commonly used in the delivery room during neonatal resuscitation. The transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life is a challenge to newborns, and exposure to too much oxygen can cause an increase in oxidative stress. The goal of resuscitation is to achieve normal oxygen levels as quickly as possible while avoiding excessive oxygen exposure and preventing inadequate oxygen supplementation. Although it has been shown that room air resuscitation is as effective as using 100% oxygen, often preterm infants need some degree of oxygen supplementation. The ideal concentration of oxygen with which to initiate resuscitation is yet to be determined. Current delivery room resuscitation guidelines recommend the use of room air for term newborns and preterm newborns of greater than or equal to 35 weeks' gestation and the use of a fraction of inspired oxygen of 0.21 to 0.3 for preterm infants of less than 35 weeks' gestation. Further recommendations include titrating oxygen supplementation as needed to obtain goal saturations. However, there is no current consensus on an intermediate oxygen concentration to start resuscitation or goal range saturations for preterm and asphyxiated term infants.