Interventions to prevent hypothermia at birth in preterm and/or low birthweight infants

Preventing low body temperature at birth in premature and low birthweight infants may be important to survival and long-term outcome. Babies rely on external help to maintain body and skin temperature particularly in the first 12 hours of life. For vulnerable infants born prematurely or that are very small, abnormally low body temperature (hypothermia) is a world-wide issue across all climates and can lead to a variety of diseases and even death. Preventative action is taken by reducing heat loss and/or providing warmth using external heat sources. Precautionary steps routinely include a warm delivery room; drying the newborn immediately, especially the head; wrapping in pre-warmed dry blankets that cover the head; pre-warming surfaces and eliminating draughts. A review of seven studies involving 391 infants used additional preventative actions in the first 10 minutes of life to prevent problems with hypothermia. Results showed that the use of special plastic wraps or bags, plastic caps, heated mattresses and skin-to-skin contact kept the infants warmer than routine preventative action. Limitations included the small numbers of infants and studies included; variations in the methods and definitions of normal body temperature, routine care; and the use of different materials. Although this review confirmed that some of these measures are effective in preventing hypothermia, we do not yet know the long-term consequences of these interventions therefore the authors recommend that further research is carried out.