Prevalence and risk factors for hypothermia on admission in Nigerian babies <72 h of age
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Abstract
Background: Hypothermia is a major contributor to early neonatal deaths especially in the developing world. Factors which predispose babies to hypothermia need to be identified for intervention purposes.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for neonatal hypothermia at admission in the first 72 h of life.
Methods: Babies hospitalized within the first 72 h of life in a Nigerian Neonatal Unit were surveyed. Data collected included age, sex, weight, place of delivery, history of breastfeeding, recent bath, oil cleansing of the skin and presence of asphyxia. Babies with skin (axillary) temperature <36.5°C were considered hypothermic.
Results: Of the 111 babies, 75 (67.6%) were hypothermic. The prevalence of hypothermia was high among babies aged <6 h (80.6%), preterm infants (88.9%), low-birth-weight babies (89.1%), babies with birth asphyxia (76.3%), babies without recent oiling of the skin (90.6%) and babies who had not been breastfed (79.2%). Using logistic regression, significant risk factors for early neonatal hypothermia at admission included low-birth-weight (P=0.000) and lack of breastfeeding (P=0.028).
Conclusion: Most of the identified risk factors are preventable. The warm chain should be strictly applied in-hospital and be taught to mothers and community health workers.
©2009 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
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- Congress Calender
- Congress Calendar
- WAPM-Newsletter 1/2009: Istanbul Declaration on following Ethics in Perinatal Medicine
- WAPM-Newsletter No 1/2009
Articles in the same Issue
- Selected articles from the 31st scientific meeting of the New York Perinatal Society on May 19, 2008
- Advanced maternal age as a sole indication for genetic amniocentesis; risk-benefit analysis based on a large database reflecting the current common practice
- Risks for common medical conditions experienced by former preterm infants during toddler years
- Predictors of severe perineal lacerations in Chinese women
- Maternal and neonatal outcomes in early glucose tolerance testing in an obstetric population in New York city
- Original articles – Obstetrics
- Prelabor rupture of membranes at term requiring labor induction – a feature of occult fetal cephalopelvic disproportion?
- Group B Streptococcus colonization in pregnancy: prevalence and prevention strategies of neonatal sepsis
- Preterm labor and bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria among urban women
- Lipopolysaccharide binding protein in the early diagnosis of intraamniotic infection of pregnant women with premature rupture of the membranes
- Perinatal outcomes after second trimester detection of amniotic fluid viral genome in asymptomatic patients
- Is induced abortion a risk factor in subsequent pregnancy?
- An approach to the prediction of neonatal Erb palsy
- External cephalic version among women with a previous cesarean delivery: report on 36 cases and review of the literature
- Original articles – Fetus
- Reference range of fetal lung volume by 3D-ultrasonography using the rotational method (VOCAL)
- Sex differences in linear and complex fetal heart rate dynamics of normal and acidemic fetuses in the minutes preceding delivery
- Misidentification of maternal for fetal heart rate patterns after delivery of the first twin
- Original articles – Newborn
- Prevalence and risk factors for hypothermia on admission in Nigerian babies <72 h of age
- Influence of sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics on breastfeeding duration of mothers attending breastfeeding support groups
- Congress Calender
- Congress Calendar
- WAPM-Newsletter 1/2009: Istanbul Declaration on following Ethics in Perinatal Medicine
- WAPM-Newsletter No 1/2009
