Background: Positioning of preterm neonates is basic neonatal nursing care and one of the
important aspects of developmental care to keep the preterm infants comfortable. Positioning
premature neonates in lateral position and supine with flexion position resulted in higher mean oxygen
saturation than in supine extended position.. Premature neonates with assisted ventilation benefit from
positioning as it increase oxygen saturation therefore it is recommended that neonatal nurse should
arrange position of premature neonates with assisted ventilation and promote flexion side-lying position.
Aim: To compare the effect of lateral versus supine position on breathing pattern among premature
neonates. Design: A descriptive comparative study design. Setting: At Neonatal Intensive care Units in
Children's University Hospital affiliated to Ain Shams University and Saied Galal University Hospital, Al-
Azhar University. Sample: A purposive sample was used to recruit 162 neonates according to certain
criteria: Premature babies less than or equal 36 week, Weight between 2000: 2500 gm. Tools: 1)
Pre-designed questionnaire, and 2) Observational checklist. Results: Findings of the present study
showed that more than half of the studied premature neonates suffer from respiratory distress and
were small for gestational age (53.1%& 59.9% respectively). Furthermore, nearly three quarters
(74.1% ) of the studied premature neonates were spending more than ten days in hospital. Finally,
there were a highly statistical significance differences for premature neonates heart , respiratory rate
and oxygen saturation at supine position at (P< 0.0001respectively). Conclusion: Supine position
was an effective way to improve premature neonates cardiac and respiratory function
Recommendations: 1) Promotes awareness among neonatology nurses about the benefits and
importance of positioning preterm neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit to improve cardio-
respiratory function of ventilated neonates, 2) Replication of the study on a larger sample and in
different geographical areas in Egypt for generalization of findings.