JNSS 2025, 16(1):15-21 | DOI: 10.32725/jnss.2025.006

Ensuring Safety and Preventing the Sudden Unexpected Collapse of Newborns in Delivery Rooms

Milena Mágrová *, Alena Machová
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Emergency Care, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Contemporary situation: The priority of nursing care for a newborn in the delivery room is to ensure its safety, and clinical observation and instrumental monitoring can be used for this purpose. Early education in the prenatal period allows the mother and accompanying person to be involved in the safe care of the newborn. Goal: The main goal of this research was to map the nursing care of newborns in the delivery room immediately after birth, emphasising safety and preventing sudden unexpected postnatal collapse (SUPC).

Methods: A semi-structured interview with nursing staff caring for newborns in delivery rooms in selected hospitals in South Bohemia (n1 = 21) was used for the qualitative research. The staff were also trained in using the RAPPT (Respiratory, Activity, Perfusion, Position and Tone) scoring system to assess the risk of SUPC and asked about the possibility of its use in practice in delivery rooms (n2 = 12).

Results: Based on data analysis, we identified some key areas: Practical procedures of nursing staff in delivery rooms in SUPC prevention, Implementation of assessment tools and monitoring in SUPC prevention, Education and involvement of mothers after childbirth in the SUPC prevention system during skin-to-skin contact in the delivery room, and Possibilities of using the RAPPT scale in newborn care in the delivery room.

Conclusion: The need to assess the newborn after birth using the Apgar score to ensure bonding does not correspond to the condition of the newborn. Newborns are calmer during skin-to-skin contact, and other monitoring of the child's safe adaptation is needed.

Keywords: Newborn; Nursing Staff; RAPPT; Safety; SUPC
Grants and funding:

This paper was created using institutional support for the long-term conceptual development of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice research organisation within the framework of the Internal Multidisciplinary Research Project No. MPŽD2021-001, project title: 'Multidisciplinary care for women and children during pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium'.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Received: June 3, 2025; Revised: June 13, 2025; Accepted: June 30, 2025; Prepublished online: July 1, 2025; Published: July 10, 2025  Show citation

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Mágrová M, Machová A. Ensuring Safety and Preventing the Sudden Unexpected Collapse of Newborns in Delivery Rooms. Journal of Nursing, Social Studies, Public Health and Rehabilitation. 2025;16(1-2):15-21. doi: 10.32725/jnss.2025.006.
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