GENERAL PRINCIPLES

A. Overview.
A person skilled in basic neonatal resuscitation, whose primary
responsibility is the newly born baby, should be present at every
birth, and a provider capable of performing a complete resuscitation
must be immediately available. Delivery of high-risk infants should
be ideally attended by personnel who possess the skills required to
perform a complete resuscitation. The highest standard of care for
delivery room resuscitation requires the following: (i) knowledge of
perinatal physiology and principles of resuscitatetation; (ii) mastery
of technical skills required; and (iii) clear coordination,
communication, and teamwork among providers. The Newborn
Resuscitation Program (NRP) of the American Academy of
Pediatrics/American Heart Association provides an educational
curriculum to ensure all caregivers have a consistent approach to
resuscitation and team-based training. NRP provides an approach
to resuscitation that is successful in a very high percentage of cases
and aids clinicians to rapidly identify those unusual cases in which
specialized interventions may be required. This chapter reviews
basic principles of transitional physiology and neonatal
resuscitation. Specific treatment recommendations for neonatal
resuscitation are updated on an ongoing basis as new evidence
emerges