# Newborn resuscitation (help with breathing at birth)

Intervention · id `maternal:neonatal-resuscitation` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public)

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Also called: Neonatal resuscitation; Resuscitation at birth

Browse, life stage: Newborn  
Browse, care area: Newborn care  

## In plain language

Help for a baby who does not start or keep breathing at birth. WHO says birth asphyxia, the failure to start and keep breathing at birth, causes about one quarter of neonatal deaths worldwide and that effective resuscitation at birth can prevent a large proportion of them.

## Technical summary

WHO, in its 2012 guidelines for resource-limited settings, defines birth asphyxia as failure to start and keep up breathing at birth, says it causes about one quarter of neonatal deaths worldwide, and says effective resuscitation at birth can prevent a large proportion of them. Helping Babies Breathe is a training programme for birth attendants and has its own page. This page does not yet cover current US resuscitation guidelines.

## Claims, with the population each applies to

## Context: Newborns who need resuscitation in resource-limited settings (WHO 2012)

Recipient: Newborn; Population: Newborns in resource-limited settings who require resuscitation.; Care setting: Resource-limited settings.; Geography: Not stated beyond resource-limited settings.; Life stage: Birth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: a guideline overview.

### WHO states in its 2012 guidelines on basic newborn resuscitation that about one quarter of neonatal deaths worldwide are caused by birth asphyxia, which it defines as failure to start and keep up breathing at birth, and that effective resuscitation at birth can prevent a large proportion of these deaths. The guidelines are written for settings with limited resources.

- Category: Burden
- Evidence stage: Guidance
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Newborn; Population: Newborns in resource-limited settings who require resuscitation.; Care setting: Resource-limited settings.; Geography: Not stated beyond resource-limited settings.; Life stage: Birth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: a guideline overview.
- Limitations: Taken from the overview on the WHO publication page only; the guideline PDF was not read, so the recommended steps are not recorded. The figures date from the guideline development and may have changed. The page prints all rights reserved, so only short quotations are used.
- Last checked: Not recorded
- Sources:
  1. Supports: Guidelines on basic newborn resuscitation (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition 2012. Publication page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-who-9789241503693.html). The guideline PDF was not fetched; only the overview text on the page is used.) <https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241503693>
     Locator: Overview, sentences 1 to 3. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:24:38Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 63716f7d6f0612a9d39695b1020e05427a90f1055ea88e8b17c4c80142f584b8.
     How it applies: Burden and the role of resuscitation, as WHO states them.
  2. Background: Guidelines on basic newborn resuscitation (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition 2012. Publication page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-who-9789241503693.html). The guideline PDF was not fetched; only the overview text on the page is used.) <https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241503693>
     Locator: Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:24:38Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 63716f7d6f0612a9d39695b1020e05427a90f1055ea88e8b17c4c80142f584b8.
     How it applies: Population and settings the updated guidelines address.

## Connected pages

- Help at birth when a baby does not breathe: Care of the newborn in the first days (`maternal:essential-newborn-care`)
- Filed under this front: Newborn support: warmth, breathing, feeding (`maternal:front-newborn-support`)
- Related to: Brain injury from lack of oxygen around birth (HIE) (`maternal:hypoxic-ischaemic-encephalopathy`)
- Related to: Helping Babies Breathe (training programme) (`maternal:helping-babies-breathe`)

## Provenance

Content hash: 9b0e74496a760ae383e6d1a76dbbb405a67e5374b992bd83703007ea11512136
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-14
Evidence last checked: Not recorded