Facemask Ventilation

The transition to newborn life requires two major physiological adaptations: (1) the airways must be cleared of liquid to enable pulmonary gas exchange; and (2) the circulation must transition from a fetal into a newborn phenotype. The stimulus for this transition is lung aeration. When infants fail to initiate spontaneous breathing, the international resuscitation guidelines state to provide positive pressure ventilation to create a functional residual capacity, deliver an adequate tidal volume, initiate spontaneous breathing, and facilitate gas exchange while minimizing lung injury. In this chapter, we review the current evidence about positive pressure ventilation in the delivery room, the interfaces and ventilation devices, and devices to monitor success of positive pressure ventilation in preterm infants.