• Madeleine C Murphy, Laura De Angelis, Lisa K McCarthy, and O'Donnell Colm Patrick Finbarr CPF Neonatal Unit, The National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. Nati.
• Neonatal Unit, The National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
• Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2018 Sep 1; 103 (5): F490-F492.

AbstractClinical assessment of an infant's heart rate (HR) in the delivery room (DR) has been reported to be inaccurate. We compared auscultation of the HR using a stethoscope with electrocardiography (ECG) and pulse oximetry (PO) for determining the HR in 92 low-risk newborn infants in the DR. Caregivers auscultated the HR while masked to the HR on the monitor. Auscultation underestimated ECG HR (mean difference (95% CI) by -9 (-15 to -2) beats per minute (bpm)) and PO HR (mean difference (95% CI) by -5 (-12 to 2) bpm). The median (IQR) time to HR by auscultation was 14 (10-18) s. As HR was determined quickly and with reasonable accuracy by auscultation in low-risk newborns, study in high-risk infants is warranted.© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

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