Acoustic Analysis of the First Babies Crying in Delivery Room and Adaptation to Extra Uterine Life

Interpreting the cry of new-borns is a real challenge not only for perinatal professionals but also for parents, who are confronted daily with those sounds.

The description and the acoustic analysis of baby's cry can allow healthcare professionals to better adapt their care during the first months of life. Aiming for this objective, many studies have already been carried out on infants crying in the first months of life, in order to better understand their significance (pain, discomfort, hunger) and the mechanisms of recognition and discrimination by parents or listeners. Various techniques are promising to characterize the acoustic space of cry (maximum frequency, intensity, harmonics, duration…).

However, few studies have investigated the acoustic characteristics of the first cry of life in the delivery room. Its intensity and characteristics are closely related to the laryngeal anatomy and respiratory capacity. Thus, a vigorous cry with its own acoustic characteristics could be the witness of a good adaptation to extra uterine life, while a weak or plaintive cry should warn the caregiver on difficulties in this adaptation.

Thanks to an objective analysis method as acoustic analysis, the particularities of the first cry should provide us information on the quality of adaptation to ambient air life.

The investigators hypothesize that the acoustic characteristics of the first cries of newborns recorded at birth are correlated with the criteria of extra uterine life adaptation (Apgar score, pH and lactates collected from the umbilical cord), with the respiratory score (Silverman) and with the early neonatal outcome (transfer to the intensive care unit).

• newborn cries (Behavioral): Their cries will be longitudinally registered from the age of birth until the first 15 minutes of birth using an automatic record device: Recorder ZOOM H4N. The wav-sized files obtained from each recording will then be analyzed indiscriminately via an acoustic processing script created for the PRAAT software® by the post-doctoral fellows of the ENES laboratory (Sensory NeuroEthology Team) on the site of the Faculty of Sciences of Saint-Etienne.

Primary outcomes

• Fo : maximum fundamental frequency (Hz) of the cry [During the first 15 minutes of life]: Measured by device: Recorder ZOOM H4N and analyzed with PRAAT® software The F0 and Apgar score will be correlated
• Apgar score (0-10) [During the first 15 minutes of life]: The Apgar score is determined by evaluating the newborn baby on five simple criteria on a scale from zero to two, then summing up the five values thus obtained. The resulting score ranges from zero to 10. The five criteria are : appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, respiration. The F0 and Apgar score will be correlated

Secondary outcomes

• Pitch of the cry (Hz) Crying acoustic structures [During the first 15 minutes of life]: Measured by device: Recorder ZOOM H4N and analyzed with PRAAT® software
• roughness of the cry (Hz) [During the first 15 minutes of life]: Measured by device: Recorder ZOOM H4N and analyzed with PRAAT® software
• Duration of cry (s) [During the first 15 minutes of life]: Measured by device: Recorder ZOOM H4N and analyzed with PRAAT® software
• Number of cry [During the first 15 minutes of life]: Measured by device: Recorder ZOOM H4N and analyzed with PRAAT® software

Sex: All, ages: 1 Minute to 15 Minutes

Inclusion Criteria:

* Infant born between 37 and 42 SA
* Live infant at birth
* Parent who received informed written information about the study

Exclusion Criteria:

\- Emergency after childbirth (haemorrhage)

• HUGUES PATURAL, MD PHD, Principal investigator, CHU ST ETIENNE FRANCE