Achieving humidification of inspired gases in the delivery room for very preterm infants: Rationale and set up

Nearly all very preterm infants will require some form of respiratory support in the neonatal unit. It is standard practice to humidify the inspired gases. It appears logical to bring this practice of humidification forward to the time immediately after birth. There is an evidence base for early provision of heated humidified gases in the delivery room, but because several forms of respiratory support may be needed (eg binasal prong CPAP and use of a T-piece resuscitator) this may be difficult to achieve. We describe a setup using a radiant warmer and humidification circuits to make this possible.