By 2010, 4-7 million newborn babies each year required resuscitation at birth due to oxygen deficiency, and of those, one million had died. This is what has driven internationally renowned, award-winning pediatrician, neonatologist and researcher Ola Didrik Saugstad to fulfill his lifelong passion: to fight for newborn babies by questioning the prevailing practice of using pure oxygen to save the youngest and weakest among us.
In his new book, Fighting for Air, Saugstad reveals the struggles and triumphs, resistance and determination that led him to become one of the most sought-after experts in the field of neonatology. For 30 years, he fought to change the protocol for resuscitating newborn infants with ordinary air instead of pure oxygen, based on his research proving the latter can be a detriment to newborns. Despite rejection, stolen ideas and many uphill battles, his discovery that newborn babies should be given air instead of pure oxygen is now the guiding principle in hospitals throughout the world. The mortality rate among newborn babies suffering oxygen deficiency at birth has been reduced by 30% worldwide, with a range of 200,000-300,000 lives saved every year.
Set against the background of Saugstad’s upbringing, family life and faith, Fighting for Air tracks in fascinating detail the factors that have influenced his firm resolve in improving the field of neonatology. Outspoken against the “sorting society” and an advocate for the rights of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) patients, he shares uncommonly personal perspectives of how faith, politics and medical truths intersect, views that have informed his work from his early days as a medical researcher to becoming a celebrated pediatrician, professor and humanitarian.
The book examines the thoughts, beliefs and inspiration that informs every step of Saugstad’s career. With a humble perspective and steadfast devotion to helping others, he has made it his life’s mission to protect not only the youngest and most vulnerable but to travel the world to save every life he can. Never faltering when faced with conflict, he credits his Christian faith as being crucial to his commitment to his work as well as being the beacon highlighting the power of reverence and the importance of family.
On what fuels his determination, Saugstad states: “What the outside world saw as personal ambition was something far more profound. It was a force over which I myself had no control, a power to push on and on. I had been given one of life’s greatest and most challenging gifts: passion—zeal. Passion is a terrific force that changes lives—a gift and a responsibility handed to the few. It took many years before I realized that not everyone was like me. I had felt this passion ever since I was a little boy, whether as a soccer player, a high school pupil or as a medical student. I experienced the same when I attempted to come to the defense of those I viewed as debilitated. It was passion that saved me when I was under attack, and it was passion that kept me going whenever I encountered resistance."
Despite both breakthroughs and disappointments along the way, Saugstad's method of testing oxygen deficiency in newborn babies led to perhaps his biggest discovery. He found that the higher the presence of oxygen, the more oxygen radicals are formed, therefore causing greater damage. His research on hypoxanthine and free radicals has also contributed to the reduction of incubator blindness stemming from oxidative stress, a result of pure oxygen treatment in infants.
Fighting for Air inherently and effortlessly interprets the scientific into the comprehensible, reaching both the medical professional and the layperson. His profound knowledge of the world of medicine and the application of scientific research places him in an esteemed league like no other. With a steadfast moral backdrop, Saugstad also introduces the scientific processes used that led him in radical new directions few in his field pursue due to the sensitive nature of medical care for newborn infants. He is a firm believer that the uncritical use of oxygen for 200 years in the resuscitation of newborns is one of the greatest scandals in medicine, fueling many unnecessary tragedies.
About the Author
Ola Didrik Saugstad, MD, PhD, is a Norwegian pediatrician and neonatologist who is internationally recognized for his research on resuscitation of newborn children. From 1991-2018, he was Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Oslo and Director of the Department of Pediatric Research at the National Hospital. He has traveled all over the world giving lectures about newborn resuscitation and health and has been given numerous international and national awards, such as the Landmark Award by American Academy of Pediatrics (Perinatal section). Saugstad was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology for his research and is an appointed honorary member of a number of national associations and an honorary doctor and professor at international institutions. In addition to his engagement for the smallest among us, Saugstad has been involved in the debate about Biotechnology and Chronic Fatigue syndrome.
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