Effect of premature delivery on the maturation of the Hering-Breuer inspiratory inhibitory reflex in human infants.

The Hering-Breuer inspiratory inhibitory reflex was studied serially in a group of premature infants and in a group of term infants in the immediate postnatal period. The premature infants had a stronger inspiratory inhibitory reflex than did the term infants at birth; this reflex decreased with maturation of the premature. Development in the extrauterine environment significantly delayed the rate of disappearance of this reflex. This may indicate that premature delivery retards the neurologic maturation of the human infant. The term infant showed no change in the activity of the inspiratory inhibitory reflex in the first five days of life.