Brief by Allen Best
Health – October 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Although adults typically get accustomed to the thinner air found at higher elevations, it’s sometimes a problem with babies
Babies carried in wombs by mothers living at higher elevation have typically lower weight at birth. On average, every 3,300 feet of elevation gained reduces fetal weight by about 3.5 ounces, according to a 1997 study. Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos told the Summit Daily News that most newborns she helps deliver in Summit County arrive at 6 pounds, instead of the national average of 7 to 8 pounds.
It’s not that the babies are born prematurely. Rather, it’s just that the fetuses grow more slowly, said Lorna Moore, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center. “The reason that babies grow more slowly, we think, is that there is less oxygen available in utero,” she told theDaily News.
The thin air of Summit County, where elevations of towns range from 8,750 to 10,400 feet, also presents problems for some -but not all -babies after birth. Sometimes within two weeks the baby’s oxygen saturation begins to dip, requiring supplemental oxygen.
Even with this supplemental oxygen, some babies do not make the transition. The Summit Daily tells of a couple in Breckenridge, whose baby had an oxygen saturation of 73 percent two months after birth. The normal for babies is 89 to 93. The couple sold their house and moved to Minnesota, where the baby immediately had oxygen levels of 97 to 99 percent.
