When entering the neonatal ward, the first thing you see is a row of transparent plastic boxes, in which babies are sleeping peacefully. What is this plastic box used for? Why does the baby need to sleep in it?
Don’t be surprised, this is a newborn
incubator, also called a newborn incubator, which is specially used to keep premature babies warm in the neonatal intensive care unit, or to observe the condition of some high-risk babies.
The incubator uses scientific methods to create a comfortable environment similar to the mother's womb. It can not only adjust the appropriate temperature and humidity, isolate noise, and purify the air, but also isolate external germs and reduce the baby's chance of infection. Because the incubator environment is warm, the baby does not need to wear clothes when living in it, which makes it easier for medical staff to observe changes in the baby's vital signs at any time. In addition, when the baby sleeps in the incubator, it can be easily connected to various monitoring instruments to monitor the baby's body temperature, heartbeat, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, transcutaneous blood oxygen saturation, etc., and can also directly perform blue light treatment if necessary.
In fact, the incubator only provides a comfortable environment for babies and is not a special treatment tool. However, the application of newborn incubators can not only improve the survival rate of premature babies, but also benefit the growth and development of high-risk newborns.
Which babies need to live in an incubator?
1. Mainly premature infants. Preterm infants refer to infants born less than 37 weeks of gestation. Because the temperature regulation center of premature infants is immature, they cannot maintain a constant body temperature in a normal indoor environment. They may suffer from hypothermia or failure to rise in body temperature, and are also susceptible to various infections. disease.
2. Jaundice infants. Blue light irradiation is the main method of treating neonatal jaundice. During phototherapy, the newborn will be placed naked in the incubator, covered with a black cloth eye mask to protect the eyes and a diaper to protect the perineum. The incubator can keep warm and facilitate observation of skin jaundice.
3. Babies who are in critical condition and need better observation and care. This type of newborn is in an incubator, which facilitates medical staff to observe changes in the baby's vital signs at any time. The baby sleeping in the incubator can be connected to various monitoring instruments to monitor the baby's body temperature, heartbeat, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and transcutaneous blood pressure. Oxygen saturation, etc., and provide oxygen supply or ventilator-assisted ventilation if necessary. If such infants are not treated in time, they can easily cause respiratory failure, heart failure, sepsis and even death. Therefore, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment are very important.
4. High-risk children. If the mother has risk factors such as gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, or unstable fetal heart rate during pregnancy, or the delivery process is not smooth, it is easy to cause hypoxia and ischemia in the newborn's brain. Such babies will generally be diagnosed after birth. Send to the incubator for observation.
Are incubators safe? Will it hurt the baby?
There is no need to worry about this problem, newborn incubators are relatively safe. There are two temperature monitoring systems in the incubator. One is to monitor the ambient temperature inside the incubator, and the other is to monitor the baby's body temperature. The most suitable temperature for newborn growth is called neutral temperature, which is 31-36 degrees Celsius. Medical staff will set a temperature range for the incubator at a neutral temperature based on the baby's gestational age, weight at age, physical condition, etc. At the same time, medical staff will stick a temperature sensor on the baby's chest or abdominal skin to measure the baby's body temperature. The body temperature should not exceed 37 degrees Celsius. In addition to machine monitoring, the nurse will also use a thermometer to measure the baby's temperature every 4 hours.
For the thermostat, its maximum set temperature is 38 degrees Celsius, and the adjustable temperature is 28-37 degrees Celsius. If the temperature exceeds the set value, an alarm will sound. In addition, we regularly have professionals monitor the thermostat. Even if the thermostat ring is broken, regular testing with an ordinary thermometer can help us find problems in time. Once the baby's condition is not good, the baby's ECG monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring, and respiratory monitoring equipment will also sound an alarm.
After reading the above, do you have a better understanding of newborn incubators? Although some babies cannot lie in their mother's warm arms after birth and may have to endure the pain of illness, they are not alone because there is a group of angels silently guarding them and ensuring their health and safety.
