Helping high-risk infants stay warm

Nearly ten percent of newborn babies at Baptist Hospital need intensive care. From the moment they are delivered, these premature infants struggle to stay warm and are easily over-stimulated by touch.

Thanks to your donations to the Baptist Hospital Foundation, a new advance in care – the Giraffe Shuttle – is now helping these fragile newborns focus on healing and growing, rather than on managing the stress of exposure to cold temperatures and excessive handling.

As Ellen Gregory, Manager of the NICU at Baptist Hospital explains, “Even a small drop in a baby’s body temperature greatly increases risk for hypothermia, especially right after delivery.”

The Giraffe Shuttle connects to our current giraffe beds to provide a constant heat source to babies right after delivery. It also eliminates the need to transfer an infant to and from an incubator. “This new technology provides the very best in care for our most vulnerable babies,” explains Gregory. “By decreasing the handling and movement of these very low birth weight infants, we will greatly reduce complications that can pose life-long challenges.”