A b s t ra c t
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 1997) a newborn
is normothermic when its body temperature is between 36.5°C and
37.5°C with hypothermia considered to be any temperature below this
identified spectrum. Neonatal hypothermia is a potentially common and
dangerous occurrence related to a number of risk factors categorised
as environmental, physiological, behavioural and socioeconomic. Babies
delivered by caesarean section are at particular risk of developing
hypothermia. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the
factors contributing to neonatal hypothermia including the physiology
of thermoregulation , mechanisms of thermogenesis and heat loss, and
the effects that neonatal hypothermia has on the newborn infant. The
paper will also review the interventions, which may be adopted to prevent
hypothermia occurring and to identify and intervene to reduce the impact
of hypothermia including the effect of skin - to - skin contact as both a
preventative and management strategy in neonatal hypothermia.
Keywords: Neonatal hypothermia, Thermoregulation, Thermogenesis,
Heat loss mechanisms, Skin - to - skin