The first breaths after birth—early lung function in healthy term infants
Abstract
RATIONALE: It remains unclear how the lung is aerated after birth in human infants. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe volume changes over the first breaths of life. METHODS: Prospective observational study in healthy infants after vaginal delivery.Electrical impedance tomography data were collected continuously after birth. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: End-expiratory lung volume (EELV), tidal volume (VT) and markers for regional ventilation distribution including center of ventilation (CoV), silent spaces, functional lung size (FLS), and coefficient of variation (CV) for each of the first 10 breaths and at each full minute until 10 min after birth.Ten thousand five hundred forty-six breaths from 46 infants were analyzed. During the initial 5 breaths of life, EELV increased rapidly, and VT were approximately 3-fold higher than post-transitional VT (linear mixed model, both P
Fields of Study & Subjects
Neonatal Respiratory Health Research
Respiratory Support and Mechanisms
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Volume
- 212
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 792–801
- Publication date
- 17 January 2026
- Language
- EN