Jumana Almomani

The prone position for preterm neonates had been playing an important role to improve physiological statues for respiratory distress syndrome diseases. Prone position correlates with improvement of diaphragmatic movement or pulmonary perfusion, especially in preterm neonates. Objective: To assess the oxygen saturation on Jordanian preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome, during prone position comparing to supine position. Method: This pilot study is conducted with randomized clinical trial of thirty preterm neonates (age < 28days of gestations) in nursery ward at Queen Rania hospital during two months from 25 July–25 September 2015. Supine - prone cycle was applied for one time, where preterm were placed first in supine position for total 2 hours, which then followed by prone position for 2 hours. Oxygen saturation was measured at 30 minutes intervals, corresponding to 8 samples for 4 hours. The data were recorded using the pulse oximeter by same staff nurse. Results: At the end of the last 2 hours of supine position, O2 saturation mean & SD was noted as (96.3 + 1.5) and at the end of last hour on prone position was (98.53 + 1.506). Independent sample t test revealed that there are significant differences between prone and supine position on this duration time, the result showed O2 saturation in prone position significant (t = 4.35, P < 0.05), (CI: 0.85–0.95). Conclusion: The prone position showed an effect on preterm babies diagnosed with respiratory distress syndrome diseases, comparing to the supine position. This maneuver considers safe method that decreases the complication in respiratory distress syndrome diseases on preterm neonates.