Neonatal Warmers
Resus or neonatal warmers are an effective warming therapy for a newborn baby and provide all the components needed in the event of clinical emergency and resuscitation.
Supporting a baby in the first moments of its life, neonatal warmers maintain an optimum body temperature of 36.5°C – 37°C, as a full-term baby will lose 1 – 2°C of their body temperature within 30 minutes of their life.
This radiant heat loss can increase significantly depending on:
the baby's size
if the infant is unwell
if the infant needs treatment that will expose them to cooler environments
premature birth
Here at QED Scientific, we are trusted partners for everything you need to reduce radiant heat loss and keep the infant within the correct thermal environment - including our specialised product range of infant radiant warmers.
Why do we need to eliminate radiant heat loss?
According to the NHS, infant patients are most at risk of body heat loss because of multiple factors:
they have a large body surface area in relation to their weight
they have a large head in proportion to their body - this is why many newborn infants are given hats after birth
they have little subcutaneous fat
they are not able to shiver - which can increase the body temperature via involuntary muscle movements
Infant radiant warmers are used so newborns can keep their skin temperature constant and achieve thermoregulation, which supports the metabolic activity of a newborn and improves their early outcomes.
Likewise, unlike more developed children and adults, a loss in skin and body temperature can have potentially serious consequences for newborn infants, including:
· Hypothermia - newborns can become dangerously cold and risk developing hypothermia in just 20 minutes.
· Increased energy and oxygen use - when cold, infants can use 10% more oxygen for every degree their skin temperature drops.
· Increased chances of admission to neonatal units - babies with a lower body and skin temperature can develop complications like hypoglycaemia, metabolic acidosis, and respiratory distress very quickly.
Benefits of infant radiant warmers
A radiant warmer for a newborn has many benefits, such as:
Infants remain accessible
Unlike infant incubators which are completely enclosed, the radiant warmer bed has high sides that act as a heat shield and ensure metabolic heat production continues while maintaining easy access.
This makes beneficial skin-to-skin contact simpler and can allow medical professionals to see and treat their patients without removing them and increasing the risk of further heat loss.
Ease of movement
Thanks to sturdy castor wheels, infants can be moved from the delivery room to the NICU or the delivery room to the ward without disrupting the infant or the beneficial radiant heating.
This seamless care means that parents of even critically ill infants can still sit with and have physical contact with their babies, something that benefits patients and parents alike.
Additional infant safety measures are built-in
A radiant warmer inspires clinical confidence by giving medical staff access to the necessities needed for most infants, including:
· Space for oxygen cylinder
· Disposable/reusable suction jar
· Detachable plexiglass
· Two-sided drawer with cabinet
· Dual carry handles and integrated examination lamp
· Secondary skin temperature inlet
Every effort is made to give a newborn a great start in life - one way to achieve this is through the use of a radiant warmer within maternity and neonatal wards.
Features of the OKM730 resus warmer
A radiant warmer for a newborn typically consists of a heat source, a skin-temperature sensor, an automatic control unit, and both audible and visual alarms to notify healthcare staff of evaporative heat loss.
The OKM730 resus warmer comes with numerous safety features, including failure and deviation alarms, which can be silenced whilst hands-free for safe infection control.
Other benefits include:
· Neoport infant T-piece and air blender to aid newborn resuscitation
· Hands-free alarm silencing
· Optional touchscreen display controls with SpO2
· Electrical height and tilt adjustment
· Digital baby scale
· Heater module and temperature deviation alarms
· System failure alarms
· APGAR timer
· 360° rotatable mattress
· Auto tilt zeroing
· SpO2 saturated oxygen monitoring
Reduce heat loss for your smallest patients with QED Scientific
For reliable and high-quality options that benefit patient outcomes and ensure newborn infants are kept in homeostasis, why not contact the team at QED Scientific?
With decades of experience as medical equipment suppliers for the NHS, we offer personalised recommendations that balance cost and performance with adequate care.
You can call us on 01663 735 494 or fill in the contact form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
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Neonatal Warmers FAQs
How is a radiant warmer different from infant incubators?
A radiant warmer and a neonatal incubator are both used to keep newborns at a constant and healthy body temperature no matter the air temperature.
However, in appearance and functionality, they are very different.
The main differences include:
Radiant warmers are open to the air and do not have the same cabinet lid as double-walled incubators.
Radiant warmers stop convective and evaporative heat loss while an incubator also controls temperature, humidity, and oxygen concentrations.
Radiant warmers require the use of a thin polyethylene film to counteract the amount of insensible water loss produced - incubators do this with the lid.
A radiant warmer is often used for short-term treatment of stronger, less unwell babies, while incubators are used for babies in a NICU as they can monitor more vital signs.
To order a radiant warmer for your site, please feel to reach out to the team.
Is a radiant warmer better for patient care?
Infant radiant warmers are only used if and when medically necessary. However, while neonatal warmers and infant incubators both offer heat output and aim to reduce non-evaporative heat loss, resus warmers can offer a major advantage over incubators: easy access.
By using a heat shield and not having a cabinet lid, medical staff can reduce total heat loss, complete routine observations or tests (like taking the weight of the infant) and ensure the baby is undisturbed while remaining as accessible as possible.