Spotlight on Care - Flushing Hospital's Infant Apnea Management Program

Premature babies have underdeveloped respiratory centers in their brain.  Therefore, preemies normally have bursts of big breaths followed by periods of shallow breathing or pauses called apnea.  Infant apnea is characterized by breathing pauses that last more than 15 to 20 seconds. Other symptoms include changes in skin color to a pale, purplish or blue and a slowing of the heart rate.

Flushing Hospital’s Infant Apnea Management program was the first program of its kind certified by New York City and still the only one of its kind in Queens.  The program is designed to monitor the breathing patterns of its patients by attaching an electronic device to them.  This device produces a report that is reviewed by hospital staff upon the infant’s next visit.  Tracking the infant’s breathing patterns is very important because infant apnea, which is defined as a sudden cessation of breathing, is a leading factor in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, (SIDS).

Infants who are born premature, have a family history of apnea, or were born while the mother was on drugs are more at risk and are therefore immediately screened for this condition.

For more information on Flushing Hospital’s Infant Apnea Management program, please call (718) 670-5638.

This is the first installment of the MediSys Health Network's Spotlight on Care.  Future postings will feature other unique services offered within the network.