Oxygen Desaturation in Term Infants in Car Safety Seats

The need for a period of observation of infants born prematurely to monitor for oxygen desaturation, apnea, or bradycardia when positioned semireclined in car safety seats has been well established.^1–3 Whether otherwise healthy term infants are at risk for similar episodes while positioned in car safety seats, however, has not been fully determined and warrants additional investigation. A recent study, published in this journal in which 50 term infants were monitored documented that when properly positioned semireclined in rear-facing car safety seats, the mean oxygen saturation levels declined significantly from 97% to 94% after 60 minutes.⁴ Also, 8% of these term infants had oxygen saturation values of <90% for longer than 20 minutes. A previous report of a series of selected term infants with preexisting health conditions believed to place them at risk for potential oxygen desaturation documented that 28.6% of those infants demonstrated oxygen saturations <90% when tested in their car safety seat for …

Address correspondence to Joel L. Bass, MD, Newton Wellesley Hospital, 2014 Washington St (Six North), Newton, MA 02462. E-mail: jbass{at}partners.org