John Brock-Utne
Publication Details
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Maternal medication does temporarily affect neonatal neurobehaviour.
S Afr Med J. 1982; (26): 985-9
A modified neurodevelopmental assessment technique, the KEH scale, was applied to 60 healthy newborn infants at 2 - 4 hours of age, and again at 24 hours in order to detect any effect of maternal medication on behaviour. Results show that neonates whose mothers received medication during labour were significantly more depressed at 2 - 4 hours as regarded tone, rooting, reflexes and the total neurobehavioural score than those whose mothers did not receive medication. No difference was found at 24 hours. The Apgar scores were similar at 2 - 4 hours and at 24 hours. The KEH scale detects the subtle effects of maternal medication on the behaviour of newborn infants. It may therefore be of value in assessing the effect of drugs and anaesthetic agents administered to the mother on the neonate. Furthermore, it may prove to be of value in detecting similar effects resulting from prematurity, hypoxia in utero or trauma during delivery.
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