Hypothermia among newborns is considered an important contributor to neonatal morbidity
and mortality in low-resource settings. However, in these settings only limited progress has
been made towards understanding the risk of mortality after hypothermia, describing how
this relationship is dependent on both the degree or severity of exposure and the gestational
age and weight status of the baby, and implementing interventions to mitigate both
exposure and the associated risk of poor outcomes. Given the centrality of averting
neonatal mortality to achieving global milestones towards reductions in child mortality by
2015, recent years have seen substantial resources and efforts implemented to improve
understanding of global epidemiology of neonatal health. In this article, a summary of the
burden, consequences, and risk factors of neonatal hypothermia in low-resources settings
is presented, with a particular focus on community-based data. Context-appropriate interventions
for reducing hypothermia exposure and the role of these interventions in reducing
global neonatal mortality burden are explored.
Semin Perinatol 34:426-433 © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved