If the skin of any baby at birth is very delicate and still has immature functions (such as sweating or thermoregulation), these characteristics are accentuated in babies born before term. In Poland some researchers have designed a special clothing to regulate the temperature of premature babies.
With the transition between intrauterine and extrauterine life, many biochemical and physiological changes occur in the baby, and it takes a few months until the skin acquires its mature functions. To help regulate the temperature of the newborn, skin-to-skin contact is recommended, and this invention may be helpful when this is not possible.
It has been at the Technological University of Lodz where he has worked in the manufacture of clothing specifically designed for reduce risks in premature babies. This clothing is made with two layers: a conventional fabric and a sensitive membrane that helps stop excessive sweating, keep the baby hydrated and keep it at the right temperature.
In this way it retains the moisture of the body, especially in the first hours after the baby is born, when it has not yet been put in the incubator.
As we see in the images, the tests have been performed with a doll that has temperature sensors that mimic the sweat glands of the newborn, but we do not know if it is expected that the clothes finally reach the babies who need it.
In any case, the kangaroo mother method has been recommended for decades to take care of the premature newborn, because it not only helps to maintain the functions that these clothes occupy, but many others, providing the multiple benefits of skin-to-skin contact To the little ones.
However, if this method were not possible, then a clothes that regulates the temperature of the baby and keeping it in a better state outside the incubator can be interesting.
