Respiratory changes in term infants immediately after birth.

Introduction: Over 5% of infants worldwide receive breathing support immediately after birth. Our goal was to define references ranges for exhaled carbon dioxide (ECO), exhaled tidal volume (VTe), and respiratory rate (RR) immediately after birth in spontaneously breathing, healthy infants born at 36 weeks' gestational age or older.

Methods: This was a single-centre, observational study at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, a busy perinatal referral centre.