Hemogram in normal newborn babies with special reference to platelet count

A prospective study was performed to verify the hemogram of 318 healthy fullterm newborn babies aged one hour to thirty days. The mean hemoglobin, hematocrit and reticulocyte count were between 17.6-17.9 g/dl, 52.2-53.4% and 5.7-6.7% in the first 72 hours of life. After that, they were decreased gradually approaching adult level at the later half of one month old. The white blood count at 12 to 24 hours was 18,482 +/- 6,600/microliters, gradually decreased to 9,817 +/- 2,496/microliters during 14 to 30 days. The ratio of immature to total neutrophils between 1-12 hours was 0.07 and 12 hour to 30 day was 0.04-0.05. The mean platelet counts in the first 72 hours was between (280 +/- 69) x 10(3)-(285 +/- 93) x 10(3)/microliters, it increased thereafter until 30 days old with a peak of 402 x 10(3)/microliters during 7-14 days. The platelet counts below 150 x 10(3)/microliters in the newborn period should be considered as thrombocytopenia.