Question
What should you do when a baby experiences difficulty breathing while crying?
Answer
Difficulty breathing during crying is a common occurrence. When a baby cries, their breathing pattern extends the exhale and reduces the inhale, leading to a decrease in oxygen content within the lungs. Although there are intermittent inhalation efforts, they are still insufficient compared to the exhale. At the end of the exhale, the lungs retain approximately 80% to 90% of air within the alveoli, so even if inhalation is temporarily halted, blood can still extract oxygen from these remaining oxygen reserves, usually preventing asphyxiation. However, when a baby cries intensely, air within the lungs is forcibly expelled, reducing the amount of oxygen retained in the lungs and correspondingly lowering the oxygen content in the blood. Intense crying not only consumes more oxygen but also increases the reduction of oxygen content in the blood. In this situation, the blood oxygen content in the baby’s brain and other body parts can significantly drop, which could be why they feel like they can’t breathe.