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Original poster

Newborn cant maintain oxygen levels

14 replies

syda · 15/10/2022 20:59

Hi all

We had a wee baby girl a few weeks ago who has been in special care due to her oxygen levels.

Her levels drop to below 90 (at times even as low as in the 70's) especially when she's asleep, but then immediately pick back up to over 92. The doctors seem to have no clue why this is happening.

She shows no visual signs of low oxygen.

Has anyone ever been faced with this, what was the diagnosis? They are currently guessing that her lungs just need to grow more, but I think it's just something they say when they aren't sure of what is going on. No other baby seems to have such fluctuations in their oxygen levels (even premies that have been in our room).

Could this cause her long term damage?

OP posts:
mumtoaheartwarrior · 15/10/2022 21:23

Have they carried out a heart scan ?
My daughter pre heart repair had low sats and even when she sat in the 70s you wouldn’t have known by looking at her - no change in colour or character.
Her levels also dropped when she was in deep sleep.
I hope you get answers soon x

PinkPlantCase · 15/10/2022 21:26

Hi OP if her sats weren’t being measured would there be any noticeable signs that this was going on?

If she always manages to bring it her levels back up on her own I would be inclined not to worry too much. Newborns do odd things

MargaretThursday · 15/10/2022 22:53

Isn't there a rare condition called something like "Odine's Curse" which means that the child is born so they don't take enough oxygen when asleep?

I think my mum had a friend whose child/niece had it. They had to sleep in a special ventilator, and were hoping they would grow out of it. This is a very vague memory from about 40 years ago though.

hellololabells2019 · 15/10/2022 23:00

Our son had PPHN and a collapsed lung shortly after he was born. Once that was all sorted, he kept having low oxygen dips. He came home on oxygen for a few weeks, just gave his lungs a little more time to develop.

jeffnc · 15/10/2022 23:18

I mean, I'd guess cardiac but it's not as if we're in the dark ages and taking a random stab in the dark. She's on a neonatal unit with a whole medical team looking after her. She will have had all the appropriate investigations already. We can't tell you more than they can.

Not maintaining sats is not unusual for the babies on special care, but usually there's a known reason for it happening, like prematurity for example.

You must be so worried Flowers

gamechangling · 16/10/2022 12:28

Has she had a heart scan? And or Chest X ray?

Whoareyoumyfriend · 16/10/2022 12:31

My son has this. He was initially treated for an infection but then his oxygen levels were poor. They did some tests and a scan on his heart. Then after 4 weeks they took him off oxygen and he was fine. No issues. No diagnosis. It just kind of resolved itself

Original poster
syda · 16/10/2022 21:24

Thank you all for your replies!

She has had a heart scan (all ok) and lung x rays (also all clear). Everything seems to check out ok, but the oxygen is still dipping, which is why they dont seem to know why it's happening.

I guess her lungs just need to get stronger and that might be the answer here.

Just scared that maybe there is something underlying that has been missed, but I'm sure a bunch of dr's and consultants have enough knowledge between them to consider all possibilities xx

OP posts:
gamechangling · 16/10/2022 21:49

Have they talked about a vascular ring?

Won't show up on x Ray and hard to see on normal heart scan -

Maybe worth asking about it - are you in a specialist children's hospital?

Other things to read/ask about laryngomalacia or Tracheomalacia

Diagnosis by MLB internal camera down to see if everything is connected correctly but if no answers probably worth next step.

Do the SATS get lower after feeding?

RhianonS10 · 21/10/2022 22:02

I could of write this myself my baby’s is 9 days old and we have been in hospital for a week. My baby’s sats are 89-90 when asleep and they fluctuate. Always dipping. He had. Heart scan and chest X-ray and they still don’t know :( did u get any answers it’s such a worry x

Sonia1267 · 28/02/2023 13:26

My son is currently in special care for this reason he was born at 36weeks, any updates as to what happened and what was the diagnosis? Thanks.

Sonia1267 · 28/02/2023 13:26

My son is currently in special care for this reason he was born at 36weeks, any updates as to what happened and what was the diagnosis? Thanks.

Original poster
syda · 28/02/2023 16:40

Sonia1267 · 28/02/2023 13:26

My son is currently in special care for this reason he was born at 36weeks, any updates as to what happened and what was the diagnosis? Thanks.

Hey! I'm so sorry to hear your baby is poorly.

So in the end, we had 3 sleep studies which all didnt go amazingly, but eventually (after consulting witb respiratory specialists) the dr's on the unit decided to just stop giving him the additional oxygen, and next step was to stop monitoring- after this we were home in 2 days. There were never any physical signs of lack of oxygen, which is why they were confident to stop.

We also never got a diagnosis, they just said the lungs probably just need to develop and strengthen more. We've now been home for 4 months and there haven't been any issues with it, there's also not been any check ups regarding the lungs.

Hopefully your baby just needs to grow stronger and bigger too xxx

OP posts:
newboymumma · 27/12/2023 22:17

Hello, I was wondering if you ever got to the bottom of this. My baby is six months and is going through exactly the same as your little one. We have been in hospital for 14 days with saturations dipping whilst sleeping and the doctors can’t seem to work out why 😞

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