The nurse is in a unique position to aid the newborn infant in the stressful transition from a warm, dark, fluid-filled environment to an outside world filled with light, sound, and novel tactile stimuli.

During this period of the newborn adjusting from intrauterine to extrauterine life, the nurse must be knowledgeable about a newborn’s normal biopsychosocial adaptations to recognize any deviations.

To begin life as an independent being, the baby must immediately establish pulmonary ventilation in conjunction with marked circulatory changes. These radical and rapid changes are crucial to the maintenance of life. All other neonatal body systems change their functions or establish themselves over a longer period of time.

The nurse performs an initial assessment to evaluate the neonate, its immediate postbirth adaptations, and the need for further support.