Scribd
Upload
30 views3 pages

Manual Control Without Thermostat

Air-heated incubators provide a controlled environment for newborn infants, maintaining temperature and humidity levels. They have double walls to stabilize the environment and allow observation and isolation of infants when needed. Incubators can be manually or automatically temperature controlled. While incubators play an important role in neonatal care, their costs and complexity require restricting use to small or sick infants. In developing areas, incubators also need reliable electricity, trained staff for maintenance and cleaning, and risk infection when multiple infants are placed together due to limited availability.

Uploaded by

Плохой парень
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
30 views3 pages

Manual Control Without Thermostat

Air-heated incubators provide a controlled environment for newborn infants, maintaining temperature and humidity levels. They have double walls to stabilize the environment and allow observation and isolation of infants when needed. Incubators can be manually or automatically temperature controlled. While incubators play an important role in neonatal care, their costs and complexity require restricting use to small or sick infants. In developing areas, incubators also need reliable electricity, trained staff for maintenance and cleaning, and risk infection when multiple infants are placed together due to limited availability.

Uploaded by

Плохой парень
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Air-heated incubators are now widely used to provide a clean, warm environment

with control of temperature and humidity and an oxygen supply.


Humidity is achieved with a water reservoir. They allow adequate observation of the naked infant
and isolation
when needed. Newer models are furnished with double walls to maximize their ability in
maintaining a stable environmental temperature. Two main types of air-heated incubator
are available:
one depends on convection for the internal distribution of warmed air, the air
currents being produced naturally by the heater in the incubator without the use
of the fan;
the other circulates warm air by a fan with a small heating element within the
incubator.
Control of the temperature of the heated air is either manual or automatic:
Manual control without thermostat
The older types of incubator without thermostat rely on manual control for
maintaining the temperature which is adjusted by turning a knob for more or for
less heat. Heat output cannot be regulated accurately and it is very difficult to
maintain a constant safe temperature. These devices are therefore not
recommended for newborn care.
Automatic control with thermostat
In one type of incubator, the desired air temperature is set (e.g. 32.4°C/90.3°F),
and the thermostat automatically adjusts the heat up or down to maintain this
temperature.
In another, the baby's skin temperature is used, and a heat-sensitive probe is
attached to the infant's abdomen and set at a predetermined temperature (for
example, 36.2°C/97.2°F). Heat output in the incubator is automatically adjusted
either up or down according to the changes of the skin temperature to maintain
the temperature chosen. The original enthusiasm for this method has diminished
and most users have returned to the use of automatic air temperature control.

Incubators in developing countries


The routine use of incubators for low birth weight and premature babies in
developing countries gives cause for concern for many reasons:
The delicate and sophisticated heating systems of modem incubators require a
reliable electrical supply, and trained personnel for supervision, maintenance and
repair. In many developing countries, such facilities and personnel do not exist,
and often the manufacturers neither assist in training technicians nor provide
replacement parts.
It is often difficult to clean and disinfect incubators regularly due to shortage of
health personnel, insufficient numbers of incubators, inadequate training of
personnel in disinfection procedures, and lack of suitable disinfecting materials.
Because of insufficient numbers of incubators, more than one infant is often put in
an incubator, increasing the risk of infection.
There is a lack of trained health personnel to manage the care of infants in
incubators, especially at night.
An incubator creates a barrier between the infant and the mother, which delays
bonding and makes breast-feeding difficult. Infants should therefore be taken out
of their incubators for short periods and placed with their mothers in skin-to-skin
contact. This provides an opportunity to clean the incubator.
Because of the need for trained staff, maintenance and backup support, incubators
should only be used in hospitals where such skills are available. The use of older,
second-hand incubators (donated) may be fraught with many repair problems -.lack of
spare parts, manuals, etc.

General Management of Babies in Incubators


5.3.1 Monitoring the infant's body temperature
Nursing staff must monitor the infant's body temperature regularly (every 4
hours) to ensure it is being kept at the optimal level (36.5-37°C/97.7-98.6°F), even if the
incubator has skin temperature heat-sensitive probes. Because of the risk of rectal
perforation, axillary temperature measurement is preferred to a rectal one.
5.3.2 Monitoring the incubator air temperature regularly
Nursing staff must regulate and record the incubator air temperature regularly so
that the baby maintains the desired body temperature (36.5-37°C/97.7-98.6°F). In an airheated
incubator, it should be possible to regulate the air temperature between 30°C
(86°F) and 37°C (98.6°F). However, in many incubators, the maximum air temperature is
only 34-35°C (93.2-95°F). This will not be enough for many babies and other methods of
providing additional warmth or reducing heat losses must be used.
5.3.3 Opening incubators to perform nursing procedures
When the main lid or canopy is opened much of the warm air is lost and the baby
is exposed to cold. Use port-holes and small inlets as far as possible.
5.3.4 Loss of heat by radiation
Babies cared for in incubators may suffer more than 50% of their total heat loss
from radiation because incubator walls are usually colder than the air inside the
incubator. The proportion of heat lost to cold walls depends on the room temperature. If
this is 25°C (77°F) or more, radiant heat loss is not a big problem, but if the room
temperature is below 25°C (77°F) it is often impossible to compensate for radiant heat loss
by increasing the air temperature inside the incubator.

INCUBATORS SHOULD NOT BE USED IN


ENVIRONMENTS WHERE ROOM TEMPERATURES
FALL BELOW l5°C (59°F).

To solve the problem of heat loss due to radiation, it is important to heat the
room, insulate the windows, eliminate draughts and put extra clothing on the infant as
necessary. If the baby must be observed naked, a plastic shield placed over the infant or
a plastic tunnel can be used. Alternatively, the conductive heat supply can be increased
by putting the naked baby on top of a heated water-filled mattress.
5.3.5 The effect of direct sunlight on babies in incubators
Exposure to sunlight has been recommended for the treatment of neonatal
jaundice. However, a baby inside an incubator which is placed in direct sunlight can
become dangerously overheated and die. This is the effect of radiant heat that is
experienced by an adult sitting by a window or in a car which is directly exposed to the
sun's rays.
5.3.6 Use of phototherapy
If phototherapy is given by fluorescent tubes above the incubator, the baby's
temperature should be monitored more frequently, approximately once every hour.
5.3.7 Cleaning of incubators
Incubators should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after each baby is
discharged, and before being used again. A baby should not be cared for in an incubator
for more than 2-5 days without the incubator and water reservoir being cleaned and
disinfected. Special attention should be given to the incubator's water reservoir, since
many infections of the newborn can be traced to this source. It can harbour harmful
microorganisms unless its water is changed and it is thoroughly cleaned regularly.
Air-heated incubators will continue to play an important role in neonatal care.
However, their high cost and complexity, and the separation of the baby from the mother
make it necessary to restrict their use to the smallest and the sickest babies.
Where the main clinical problem is heat loss, other means of providing warmth -
skin-to-skin contact, heated beds etc - are to be preferred in developed as well as in
developing countries. The principal features of the different methods available for
keeping preterm and sick babies warm are summarized in Table 1.
WHO/

You might also like