Question
Rewrite according to the ask column My child had a mild asphyxia when he was just born, and he cried a few times before falling back asleep. No doctor mentioned anything, so I didn’t pay much attention. Now, my child is four and a half months old and is developing normally. Do newborns cry when they suffer from asphyxia?
Answer
Rewrite according to the answer column The fetus receives oxygen through the placenta from the mother. Once born, this pathway is cut off, and the child begins to breathe using their own lungs. The first cry is a signal that the lungs have opened. Crying and breathing are closely linked from the very beginning. A strong cry is an indication of deep breathing. If we were not to have this first cry naturally, it would lead to many diseases and sequelae. Usually, we can stimulate infants in other ways to make them cry, thereby establishing lung breathing function. So even if a child cries little after asphyxia at birth, there’s no need to worry too much. As long as the child’s development is normal now, it indicates that the asphyxia had little impact on them.