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If meconium-stained fluid is present and additional risk factors indicate that an extensive resuscitation is likely, who should be there?

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Final answer:

When meconium-stained fluid is present, indicating that extensive resuscitation might be needed, an obstetrician, pediatrician or neonatologist.

Step-by-step explanation:

If meconium-stained fluid is present and additional risk factors indicate that an extensive resuscitation is likely, a team of medical professionals should be present at the time of delivery. This team should ideally include an obstetrician who is skilled in airway management to extensively aspirate the infant's airways immediately after the head is delivered.

A pediatrician or a neonatologist with expertise in newborn resuscitation should also be on hand, as well as nurses and respiratory therapists trained in neonatal intensive care. The obstetrician will listen to the newborn's lungs with a stethoscope for a coarse rattling sound that may indicate meconium aspiration.

Furthermore, the presence of meconium is often a sign of fetal distress, commonly associated with fetal hypoxia. This condition may arise due to a variety of factors, including maternal drug abuse, hypertension, depletion of amniotic fluid, a prolonged or difficult labor, or placental inadequacies.

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