National policy on hypothermia prevention among newborns in Ukrainian maternities

USAID-funded Mother and Infant Health Project (MIHP) Ukrainian conducted needs assessment in maternity hospitals of 12 oblasts which showed the level of hypothermia among newborns up to 68% on average before conditions were changed. This hypothermia was caused by cold delivery rooms, failing to maintain warm-chain techniques, separation of baby from mother right after birth. The rigid and old national practice of tightly swaddled babies in hospital clothes with temperature less then +25C often led to various complications among newborns. The rapid and considerable decrease in hypothermic babies occurred when MIHP supplied baby clothes and blankets to the Project sites and introduced warm chain techniques, and also had mothers bring baby clothes from home, which dropped the rate of hypothermia among newborns in Project maternity hospitals from 68% to 1%. The initiation of mother/father and newborn skin-to-skin contact right after birth not only warmed the newborns, but allowed them to easily latch-on to the mother's breast. Due to these interventions, Ministry of Health of Ukraine issued a special order encouraging all families bring baby warm cloths from home and making maternity authorities not to use hospital diapers to swaddle the babies and to implement warm chain techniques. Initiated National Warm Chain Campaign by MoH and MIHP made it possible for Ukrainian oblast health authorities to create warm delivery rooms and develop community awareness campaigns on warm chain.