Transient tachypnea of the newborn

[Agnes]

Transient tachypnea of the newborn is temporary difficulty with breathing and often low blood oxygen levels due to excessive fluid in the lungs after birth.

This disorder can occur in premature newborns, or in full-term newborns who have certain risk factors.
Affected newborns breathe rapidly and may grunt when breathing out and may appear bluish if they are not getting enough oxygen into their blood.
The diagnosis is based on breathing difficulty and may be confirmed by a chest x-ray.
The characteristic feature of this disorder is that it is temporary (transient), and almost all affected newborns recover completely in 2 to 3 days.
Some affected newborns need treatment with oxygen, and a few need assistance with breathing.

(See also Overview of General Problems in Newborns.)
Tachypnea means rapid breathing. Transient tachypnea means temporary rapid breathing.
Transient tachypnea of the newborn is more common among premature newborns (delivered before 37 weeks of gestation) and full-term newborns (delivered between 37 weeks and 42 weeks of gestation) who have certain risk factors. For example, in full-term newborns, transient tachypnea is more common after a cesarean delivery (C-section) and is especially likely to occur if the mother has not been in labor before a cesarean delivery (that is, a mother who has a scheduled caesarean delivery). It is also more common among full-term newborns whose mother had diabetes, asthma, or both during pregnancy.
Before birth, the air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs are filled with fluid. Immediately after birth, the fluid must be cleared from the lungs so that the air sacs can fill with air and the newborn can breathe normally. Hormones released during labor cause the cells in the air sacs to begin absorbing fluid. Some of the fluid is squeezed out of the lungs by pressure on the chest during a vaginal delivery. A majority of the fluid is rapidly reabsorbed directly by the cells lining the air sacs. If this fluid reabsorption does not occur rapidly, the air sacs continue to be partially filled with fluid and newborns may have difficulty breathing.