Özet:

It is possible to stabilize the body temperature by acquiring a balance between heat production and loss. A new born baby is homeothermic, which means a balance between heat loss and heat production. It causes a destabilization between production and loss if the outside temperature is too low or too high. Premature babies who were born before 28 weeks have an inadequate creatine layer and an immature epidermical barrier which is described as high transepidermal water loss. Premature babies are especially sensitive to hypothermia. This is because they have no or little amount of brown adipose tissue and they have limited movements, shivering and bending behaviours. Controlling the temperature in the delivery room during resuscitation is especially vital in order to decrease the rate of mortality and morbidity in premature babies. Despite the measures taken as indicated in recent neonatal resuscitation program (NRP) instructions, the risk of cold stress is higher in premature babies with low birth weight (LBW). In order to decrease heat transfer, it is required to carry on these measures but to support them with additional ones. In this article, the effects of using plastic wrap in order to prevent hypothermia in premature babies with LBW. It is demonstrated by various studies that using polyethylene wrap on premature babies with LBW can prevent hypothermia and keep the baby’s body temperature. It is found out that putting the premature baby in a polyethylene bag or wrapping it in a polyethylene wrap decreases the rate of hypothermia remarkably and it increases the average body temperature by 1˚C. The research has shown that this method is a cheap and effective way of preventing hypothermia in premature babies with LBW.

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