Singapore - Plastic cling wrap, commonly used in kitchens, is now swathing small, premature and sickly newborns to prevent hypothermia, Singapore's National University Hospital has said.
Previously, all babies were wrapped in towels, which were not preheated, resulting in a possible fall in temperature before they were put in incubators or intensive care.
"The cling wrap clings to the body so the baby doesn't lose heat," Dr Chinnadurai Amutha told The Straits Times newspaper. "It's also non-invasive."
The use of the plastic film and towels is among a series of measures that the hospital has taken. As a result, hypothermia rates for babies in neonatal intensive care fell from 30 percent to less than five percent between November and April.
Normal body temperatures of babies are higher than adults, from 36.5 to 37.5 degrees. Mild hypothermia sets in between 36 and 36.5 degrees, and becomes moderate between 32 and 36 degrees.
Hypothermia can initially delay babies' ability to adapt to the environment outside their mothers, doctors told the newspaper. It can also cause breathing and feeding difficulties and low blood sugar.
Severe hypothermia, at temperatures lower than 32 degrees, can cause kidney failure.
Other measures the hospital has taken include increasing the temperature of operating theatres and labour suites and preheating sheets and towels used to bundle up infants. - Sapa-dpa