Positioning babies with respiratory distress on their front increases oxygenation. This is particularly so in preterm ventilated infants. But these children must have cardio respiratory monitoring.
Due to the realisation that positioning babies on their backs reduced the general incidence of sudden infant death, doctors and nurses have tended to position all babies on their backs.
Some specialists, however, have reported that babies with respiratory distress go to sleep more readily when held upright over a person’s shoulder. If laid down babies and young children seem to try to turn themselves over and lie on their fronts.
Looking at the data from 21 studies, Cochrane Review Authors found evidence that positioning infants on their fronts (prone) increased oxygenation. As most of the studies involved premature infants who were being supported on ventilators, they suggest that this finding may be most appropriate to this group of children.
They also add a note of warning. “Although placing infants and children in the prone position may improve respiratory function, the association of sudden infant death with prone positioning means that infants should only be placed in this position if continuous cardio respiratory monitoring is used,” says lead author Deborah Wells who works at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, in NSW Australia.