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A young mother in Rwanda cuddles her newborn with skin-to-skin contact, wrapped with the Infant Warmer mat. (Credit: Anne Hansen, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital. Photo taken July, 2019 in Butaro Hospital, Rwanda, with informed consent.)
Newborn babies, particularly those born under-weight or preterm, are susceptible to hypothermia, since newborns are not yet able to maintain their own body heat. Hypothermia is recognized to be a significant contributor to newborn disease and death, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization and public health leaders have recommended best practices to prevent hypothermia in newborns. These include skin-to-skin contact with the mother, and if available, a supplemental external heat source. A new infant-warming device developed at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley offers a promising solution that does not require electricity, and is low-cost, convenient, and reusable.