1. ¹Kaiser Permanente, Fontana, CA, USA
2. ²Pediatrix Medical Group, Memorial Hospital, South Bend, IN, USA
3. ³Pediatrix Medical Group, Citrus Valley Medical Center, West Covina, CA, USA
4. ⁴Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
5. ⁵University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
6. ⁶Department of Pediatrics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
7. ⁷Women's and Children's Hospital, LAC + USC Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, USA
8. ⁸Children's Hospital of Orange County, Orange, CA, USA

Correspondence: Dr RD White, Memorial Hospital, 615 N Michigan St, South Bend, IN 46601, USA. E-mail: Robert_White@pediatrix.com

Abstract

Hypothermia remains a significant challenge in the initial care of premature infants. Although a number of prevention strategies have been identified, hypothermia is still a common event, especially in extremely low birth weight infants. Using data from four centers, we documented an incidence of hypothermia on admission to the neonatal intensive care unit from the delivery room of 31–78% for infants <1500 g birth weight. Increased efforts will be necessary to prevent early hypothermia in very preterm infants, especially with respect to the environmental conditions of the delivery room itself.