Have you ever thought that resuscitation at birth can become the reason for lower Intelligence Quotient in the later years? A recent study has shown that kids who were resuscitated at their birth are more prone to lower IQ at the age of 8 years that normal children.

This study has been conducted by Dr David Odd, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK, and his colleagues, and it has been published online. This research was conducted with children of an average age of 8.6 years, enrolled at the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Three different groups of children were evaluated:

• Those who were resuscitated at their birth but they didn’t show any symptoms of neonatal encephalopathy, neither did they get any additional neonatal care. These were 815 in number.

• Those who were resuscitated at their birth, and they showed symptoms of neonatal encephalopathy and got care for it. These were 58 in number.
• Those who were basically the reference group; they were not resuscitated, and were asymptomatic for neonatal encephalopathy, neither were they given any additional neonatal care. They were 10609 in number.

Reports showed that in the first group, increased risk of low IQ was 65%. As compared to the reference group, risk of lower IQ in second group was multiplied by 6. The number of children with a low IQ level because of oxygen deficiency from resuscitation was of 3.4% for asymptomatic children and of 1.2% for those who developed encephalopathy. This is an important and significant study, which can help develop some other means to save the kids at their birth else than by resuscitation.