Newborn babies cool down or heat up much quicker than older children or adults because they cannot regulate their body temperature as easily. They are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia, which means excessive cooling of the baby, so the body temperature falls below 35.5ºC measured in the baby‘s armpit (or use a rectal thermometer). If this low temperature continues even for a short time, it will cause the baby‘s body systems to stop functioning properly, and this is life-threatening.

Hypothermia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in a newborn baby, particularly pre-term babies (born before 36 weeks of gestation) and those with low birth weight (below 2,500 gm). You have learned all about the problems and management of these early or tiny babies in study session 7.

Hypothermia is usually caused more by the mother‘s lack of knowledge rather than lack of covers and clothes to keep the baby warm. So make sure you explain to the mother the importance of keeping the baby warm all the time to ensure that a normal body temperature of above 36.5°C and below 37.5°C can be maintained.

Take the temperature of the baby by using an axillary thermometer (rectal thermometer is preferable) by putting the thermometer into the rectum or under the baby‘s armpit and weight for 3 – 5 minutes and then read the thermometer reading.

• Based on what you have studied in session 7, which groups of babies are highly risky to be predisposed for hypothermia?. Select your answer or answers from the given alternatives and reason out why it could be.
  

• Preterm and low-birth-weight babies, because they have no the brown fat under their skin which mainly responsible for maintaining body temperature.
  

From the above exercise what you should have to bear in your mind is that preterm and low birth weight babies are highly risky to lose their body heat easily and get into hypothermia. But this doesn‘t mean that baby who was born at term or who was born with normal birth weight will not lose heat from his body. If he is left in one of the following conditions, he will lose heat and become hypothermic. Here are the situations:

All newborn babies who are left in one of the above situations will lose heat and can be predisposed to hypothermia.

The warm chain principle in postnatal care

The mother should understand that keeping her baby warm is a continuous process and following the warm chain principle is a must.

A warm chain is a system of keeping a baby warm immediately after delivery, wherever it occurs (at a health facility or the mother‘s home), during transportation and while feeding and caring for the baby. So the mother should be counselled to follow the components of warm chain principles.