New research claims that babies starved of oxygen at birth have a far lower risk of brain damage if their bodies are cooled down.
325 babies were involved in a trial carried out at 33 hospitals in the UK and in five other countries.
Researchers found full-term babies who suffered oxygen loss at birth were 57% more likely to survive without brain damage if they were given mild hypothermia. The body temperature of the babies was brought down by about 4C using a fluid-filled mat under their sheet.
Doctors are not entirely sure why it helps, but they believe that slowing the babies' metabolism reduces the trauma of the birth and gives the brain time to recover.
Carmel Bartley,from the children's charity Bliss, said: "Cooling of babies with birth asphyxia is an innovative technique already being used in some neonatal centres. This is a specialist treatment that we would like to see used more widely to ensure the very best outcomes for our most vulnerable babies."
Half of the newborn babies in the trial had their body temperature reduced to 33-34C for 72 hours followed by gradual re-warming in intensive care. Normal body temperature is around 37C. The trial data will now be assessed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to see whether the technique should be rolled out to all neonatal units.
October 2009
The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study received nearly £1m of funding from the Medical Research Council and mostly involved hospitals in the UK, plus neonatal units in Ireland, Sweden Finland, Hungary and Israel.
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