Health care innovations are becoming integral and indispensible in the management of newborns in the delivery room. Studies have highlighted the limitations and difficulties of clinical assessment of heart rate, color, and chest rise during neonatal resuscitation. Therefore, clinical providers increasingly rely on technology and information gained from medical devices to improve performance under high stress clinical situations. Over the past decade, pulse oximeters have proven to guide clinicians to better adjust and, thereby, optimize the required fraction of inspired oxygen to achieve the recommended target oxyhemoglobin saturations (SpO2) during neonatal resuscitation.1 Reliance on technology has been further advocated in the most recent 2015 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation guidelines, which have suggested the use of three-lead electrocardiogram in the delivery room as the most reliable method to assess heart rate.2

The growing array of medical equipment in the delivery room to enhance monitoring during neonatal resuscitation is quickly gaining popularity. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) enables continuous, noninvasive monitoring of cerebral tissue oxygenation (CrSO2) and may be used as an adjunct to SpO2 to guide oxygen administration in newborns in the delivery room.3 In addition, evidence has suggested that resuscitators are unable to accurately determine chest wall movement visually during ventilation of newborns in the delivery room4 and assessment of adequate ventilation by means of respiratory function monitoring (RFM) has shown more effective mask ventilation and a decreased need for intubation.5

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