Temperature change outside womb

While the baby is in uterus, he is to a large extent protected from temperate shifts. This happens because of presence of water-like fluid, known as amniotic fluid, which is warm. The baby is surrounded by this fluid. As a matter of fact, it is about a degree warmer than temperature of the mother.

Newborn’s temperature, just after birth, falls before stabilizing. To counter this fall of temperature, we should ensure that the temperature in delivery room is maintained and is towards the warmer side. It is because of this fall in temperature that nurses’ wrap the baby in soft cloth like a towel. This keeps the baby warm.

In the delivery room, nurses obtain newborn’s temperature and generally it remains stable. However, we should be careful about air-conditioning and room temperature in the delivery room. It should neither be too low or too high. It should be maintained at room temperature, i.e., between 22-25 degrees Centigrade. Also what is sometimes seen is that people wrap the baby in warm blankets even during summers. This should be avoided as it may be too hot for the baby.

Developing resistance to germs

When a baby is in the womb, he is enclosed by a membrane which helps in protecting him from germs. However, during the later part of pregnancy, baby forms antibodies which are basically proteins. These antibodies are found in blood and they help in protecting the baby from infections. An important fact to note is that germs are not always bad, in fact there are some bacteria which are quite vital for normal functioning of humans. Our bodies and our defense mechanism is smart to understand which germs are harmful and which ones are useful and thus the antibodies formed in our body only act upon the harmful ones.