Infant Journal
Browse articlesOxygen saturation and pulse rate variations with neonatal state: A prospective observational study
This prospective study includes all term newborns (≥37 weeks) after six hours of birth, with normal examination, born at three hospitals in Canada from March 2014 to September 2015 and admitted to the postnatal unit. The consented infants underwent 10 minutes of blinded pre-ductal recordings under direct supervision with the assignment of neonatal state, which was repeated every 12-24 hours before discharge.
Dr Prakash Kannan Loganathan1,2pkannanloganathan@nhs.net
(ORCID: 0000-0003-3717-8569)
Dr Shi Difu2
Dr Giorgio Manzoni2
Dr Carlton Baugh2
Dr Yacov Rabi3
1James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough
2Department of Physics, University of Durham
3University of Calgary, Canada
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Keywords
oxygen saturation; heart rate; desaturation; pulse rate; bradycardia; transcutaneous oxygen saturation
Key points
- Normal values and trends of oxygen saturation and heart rate have been reported without accounting for neonatal states.
- There is no clinically significant dependence of the vital signs (SpO2 and pulse rate) on the neonatal state during the first 48 hours after birth.
- There is no statistical difference in the number of desaturation episodes and the duration of desaturation episodes between sleep and alert states during the first 48 hours.
Also published in Infant:
VOLUME 22 ISSUE 1/FEBRUARY 2026
Heart rate (HR) forms an important aspect of newborn assessment, intensive care monitoring and early warning scores for babies in the postnatal ward and those who are transferred to the neonatal unit.1 Because term babies who are born healthy do not routinely undergo HR monitoring, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the normal values and variations in their heart rate.
