Symptoms:

• Bluish skin color in the infant
• Breathing problems
  • Difficulty breathing (the infant needs to work hard to breathe)
  • No breathing
  • Rapid breathing
• Dark, greenish staining or streaking of the amniotic fluid or the obvious presence of meconium in the amniotic fluid
• Limpness in infant at birth
• Greenish-stained skin in infant (occurs if meconium passed a long period before delivery)
• Skin peeling
• Weight loss

Signs and tests:

Before birth, the fetal monitor may show a slow heart rate. At birth, meconium can be seen in the amniotic fluid. The infant may have a low Apgar score.

The most accurate test to check for possible meconium aspiration involves looking for meconium staining on the vocal cords. This is done in the delivery room using a device called a laryngoscope.

The health care team will listening to the infant's chest with a stethoscope and may hear abnormal breath sounds, especially coarse, crackly sounds.

A blood gas analysis shows low blood acidity, decreased oxygen, and increased carbon dioxide.

A chest x-ray may show patchy or streaky areas on lungs.