Question
What is neonatal hypothermia, and how should we understand the situation where a newborn shows symptoms such as decreased skin temperature and hard swelling, diagnosed by a doctor as neonatal hypothermia?
Answer
Neonatal hypothermia is a condition caused by the underdeveloped thermoregulatory center in newborns, their relatively large surface area, and thin subcutaneous fat, which, combined with increased heat loss in low environmental temperatures, leads to abnormally low body temperature. Additionally, newborns have a small body size, less total body fluid volume, and limited stored heat, making them prone to temperature drops. Brown fat is the primary substance that newborns produce heat from in extremely cold conditions, but the younger the gestational age, the less brown fat is present, which is one of the reasons for neonatal hypothermia.