TY - JOUR T1 - Comparison of infant heart rate assessment by auscultation, ECG and oximetry in the delivery room JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO - Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed SP - F490 LP - F492 DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2017-314367 VL - 103 IS - 5 AU - Madeleine C Murphy AU - Laura De Angelis AU - Lisa K McCarthy AU - Colm Patrick Finbarr O’Donnell Y1 - 2018/09/01 UR - http://fn.bmj.com/content/103/5/F490.abstract N2 - Clinical assessment of an infant’s heart rate (HR) in the delivery room (DR) has been reported to be inaccurate. We compared auscultation of the HR using a stethoscope with electrocardiography (ECG) and pulse oximetry (PO) for determining the HR in 92 low-risk newborn infants in the DR. Caregivers auscultated the HR while masked to the HR on the monitor. Auscultation underestimated ECG HR (mean difference (95% CI) by −9 (−15 to –2) beats per minute (bpm)) and PO HR (mean difference (95% CI) by −5 (−12 to 2) bpm). The median (IQR) time to HR by auscultation was 14 (10–18) s. As HR was determined quickly and with reasonable accuracy by auscultation in low-risk newborns, study in high-risk infants is warranted. ER -