Project Details

Developmental follow-up of preterm infants randomized to respiratory support with lower or higher initial oxygen at birth

Ju Lee Oei, MBBS, FRACP, MD

Summary

Every Breath Counts: The Oxygen Question That Could Change the Fate of Half a Million Preterm Babies For decades, doctors have been told that using too much oxygen at birth harms premature babies. But emerging evidence suggests the opposite danger may have been overlooked: too little oxygen in the first critical minutes of life may increase the risk of brain injury, disability, and death. Professor Ju-Lee Oei and an international team have completed the world's largest trial of oxygen use during the resuscitation of extremely preterm infants—1,469 babies across 31 hospitals in six countries. Early findings show that babies who received lower oxygen levels were more likely to require emergency interventions, including cardiac compressions and adrenaline. Now comes the most important question: Do oxygen levels at birth influence whether these children survive and thrive years later? This project will follow more than a thousand of these vulnerable infants to two years of age, measuring survival, brain development, and disability outcomes. The results will provide the strongest evidence to date on how best to support babies born before 29 weeks gestation during their first moments of life. With more than 500,000 extremely preterm births worldwide each year, the findings have the potential to reshape international newborn resuscitation guidelines and improve outcomes for generations of children. A few minutes of oxygen at birth. A lifetime of consequences. This study aims to ensure that every preterm baby receives the best possible start to life.