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.