What is apnea and bradycardia?
Apnea (ap’-nee-ah) is a pause in the regular breathing of a baby lasting longer then 15-20 seconds. Normal breathing may speed up or slow down but usually does not stop for any length of time. Some infants, especially premature babies, may have times when they stop breathing for longer than normal. During the pause, the baby’s heart rate may slow and, if the apnea is severe, the baby’s skin color may change. The baby may look pale or blue. The pause in breathing may be just for a short time, and the baby may restart breathing without help. If the pause occurs for a longer period, the baby may need a reminder to restart breathing. Bradycardia (bray-dee-car’-dee-ah) is the medical term for a heart rate that is too slow. How slow is too slow varies. Babies usually have heart rates faster than adults do; so a heart rate of 80 may be fine for an adult but may be low for a newborn. Also premature babies tend to have faster heart rates than full term babies do and the heart rate tends to decr
