ACID-BASE BALANCE OF NEW-BORN INFANTS

Abstract

Study of the acid-base balance of normal new-born infants has revealed interesting variations from the standards established for adults.¹ It has been shown that the acid-base balance of the blood is definitely affected during the short period of partial dehydration and starvation which infants undergo the first few days of life. From the data at present available, it is impossible to say whether there is some underlying abnormality in the acid-base metabolism of the new-born infant or whether adults, subjected to similar dehydration and starvation, would manifest an equivalent change in the blood. Direct comparison of the changes induced by dehydration in infants and adults is fallacious since adults practically never lose 8 per cent of their body weight in the course of two or three days as do infants, except in the presence of persistent vomiting or other causes which directly influence the acid-base balance of the blood.