Delivery room resuscitation

 BACKGROUND: Hypothermia incurred during delivery room resuscitation continues to cause morbidity in infants <29 weeks gestation. Three recent trials have shown that wrapping such infants instead of drying prevents heat loss, resulting in higher infant temperatures at Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission.
OBJECTIVE: To describe current NICU practices with respect to wrapping preterm infants to prevent heat loss in the delivery room.
STUDY DESIGN: E-mail survey of neonatologists from national registry using a web-based survey tool.

Extremely low-birthweight infants have inefficient thermoregulation due to immaturity and may exhibit cold body temperatures after birth and during their first 12 hours of life. Hypothermia in these infants can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Anecdotal notes made during our recent study revealed extremely low-birthweight infants’ temperatures decreased with caregiver procedures such as umbilical line insertion, intubations, obtaining chest x-rays, manipulating intravenous lines, repositioning, suctioning, and taking vital signs during the first 12 hours of life.