The neonate cry after cesarean section and vaginal delivery during the first minutes of life

Although the option for vaginal delivery is most physiological, the achievement of cesarean section is very common in Brazil. The neonate cry represents the beginning of both processes, physiological adaptation and human vocal communication. The cry emission depends on the functioning of respiratory and Laryngeal muscles, which are controlled by the nervous system. The acoustic analysis of neonate cry is useful in the assessment of healthy babies and can be used to characterize the signals of diseases through a previously multidisciplinary diagnosis, with immediate medical intervention. The present study compared the acoustic cry characteristics of 30 healthy newborn after a cesarean section and 30 healthy newborn after a vaginal delivery, of both genders, from the exact moment of birth until the first 5 min of life. Using the softwares VOXMETRIA and GRAM, it was possible to analyze the duration, frequency, intensity, occurrence, localization and inspiratory phonation, besides the type of spectrographic tracings. The acoustic cry characteristics of newborns after a C section and a vaginal delivery could evidence not only harmonic, expiratory, acute and strong emissions, but also emissions rich in sounds and varied in types of melody. The differences found can be related to the physiology of birth. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.