CONTROL OF RESPIRATION IN NEWBORN BABIES

Abstract

Summary The respiratory response to an added load, recorded as the change in amplitude of the intra‐esophageal pressure swings caused by airway occlusion has been studied in 8 babies, 30 to 42 weeks of postmenstrual age. With increasing age the response to such an occlusion was found to increase gradually and it is concluded that this is a reflection of an increasing maturation of a thoracic respiratory reflex. The results are related to similar findings in developing animals and to earlier studies on the development of the Hering‐Breuer inflation reflex in babies.