The effects of medically-orientated labour ward routines on prefeeding behaviour and body temperature in newborn infants.

The effects of medically-orientated labour ward routines were studied during the the first hour after birth, in 48 vaginal, single deliveries. All infants were immediately separated from their mothers and left on a resuscitation table. There was no significant difference in onset of crying if the infant received cutaneous stimulation or not. It was found that 17 infants, not showing hand-to-mouth activity, were bathed at an average time of 17 min (12-23 min) after birth, while those who did were bathed at 28.5 (24.5-41.5) min (P = 0.002). One infant was breastfed during the first hour. Being separated from its mother, bathed early, and swaddled after birth seemed to interfere with the infant's inborn ability to signal hunger. Forty-one infants were hypothermic at 1 hour. According to a multiple regression analysis infant body temperature at 60 min of age corresponded positively with birth weight (P = 0.0001) and time of oxygen administration (P = 0.0002). A plausible explanation for the effect of oxygen exposure is that there is brown fat inactivation in normal newborn infants and administration of oxygen activates the brown fat. It might be advantageous to let the mother keep the baby warm, rather than manipulate the baby's metabolism with oxygen.