The Dangers of Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Newborns

RDS– a condition in which the lungs are too immature to function properly. If a baby is low on oxygen it can put her at risk for brain damage and or organ failure.

Female Speaker: At the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York, ventilators run 24 hours a day to keep the tiniest babies alive. Born nearly 3-months premature, Grace weighed a little more than a pound-and-a-half when she arrived. In 7-weeks, she's managed to bulk up to nearly 4-pounds. Having mom and dad around has helped. Tracy Feeney: But I think it definitely helps. I'm involved; I hold her, I feed her. I did her first feeding that she ever had by mouth, you know in the bottle. I was able to do that and there's a lot of risk involved with that because she's still little and she can't always coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing. Female Speaker: Like many premature infants, Grace suffers from Respiratory Distress Syndrome or RDS, a condition in which the lungs are too immature to function properly. If a baby is low on oxygen it can put her at risk for brain damage and organ failure. Todd Feeney recalls the first time his daughter's condition changed for the worse. Todd Feeney: It was almost like falling off a cliff. She was going along fine and then all of the sudden her blood oxygen levels went down into the 20's from the 100's and you know you have are concerns here by the amount of people that show up at the bedside in a matter of seconds. Female Speaker: Dr. Thomas Wiswell, Director of Neonatal Research at the hospital, has gotten accustomed to keeping little lungs going often against the odds. Dr. Thomas Wiswell: We had one baby who weighed 11-and-a-half ounces at birth survive. And that's incredible and that's really, it's not the norm and most babies that would still be far too early and too small to survive. But, now it's a pretty much a routine kind of thing, babies weigh one-and-a-half pounds or larger than that, the majority of them now survive. Female Speaker: New ways of treating respiratory problems have made the difference. Typically these tiny lungs would still be in the womb filled with amniotic fluid. For humans to begin breathing air thousands of tiny air sacs in the lungs must be working properly. These are called alveoli. Like little balloons, they cover the surface of the lungs and transfer oxygen to red blood cells. Surfactant a protein lipid substance keeps these air sacs open and functioning. Surfactant begins to coat the surface of the lungs before and during labor. Premature infants and in some cases other babies like those delivered by Cesarean section, may skip this process and end up with little or no surfactant at birth. Steroids given during labor can prompt production. But, usually additional treatment is required. Dr. Thomas Wiswell: If I know it's going to be a baby that's less than 29-weeks gestation, which is around seven months or so I will have surfactant there in the delivery room with me. And that baby within a couple minutes of birth I will put a tube inside their mouth and inside their airways and I'll get the surfactant right then and there. Female Speaker: Advances in mechanical ventilation have also been critical, allowing doctors to better tailor oxygen therapy. Still these little babies have a lot to overcome. Typically premature babies, like these healthy twin girls, are able to go home right around their original due date. When Grace leaves developmentally she'll be considered a newborn. Todd Feeney: I just want to bring her into the driveway, that's all I want. I just, I would give anything just to sit on the couch with her in the house snuggled up like this and just relax for a while without all this, without all the machines, all the beeping and just have her like this and just hold my hand.