Making Elective Caesarean Safer for Infant's Lungs by Reducing Respiratory Distress Using Knee-chest-flexion: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Planned caesarean birth is a risk factor for the development of neonatal respiratory distress commonly known as transient tachypnoea of the newborn. This is due to the absence of labor physiology which facilitates the clearance of fetal lung fluid. We hypothesized that by mimicking flexion induced by uterine contractions by manually performing knee-to-chest flexion directly at birth to achieve expulsion of excess lung liquid, we could reduce the incidence of respiratory distress in term children born by planned CS. The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether performing a knee-to-chest flexion maneuver directly after elective caesarean section will decrease the incidence of respiratory distress in term infants when compared to the standard care
• Infants born by planned CS, 37-42 weeks gestational age