Neonatal incubators

In 1857, the premature birth of an infant 'around the sixth month of foetal life' forced Jean-Louis-Paul Denuce, Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Bordeaux School of Medicine, to address two key problems: how to feed the baby, and how to maintain its temperature.2 Eschewing ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anaesthesia and intensive care 2023-03, Vol.51 (2), p.84-87
Main Authors: Featherstone, Peter J, Ball, Christine M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Care
Design and construction
Humans
Incubators
Incubators (Pediatrics)
Infant, Newborn
Intensive care
Medical technology
Neonatal care
Neonatal intensive care
Newborn babies
Oxygen therapy for premature infants
Premature infants
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Summary:In 1857, the premature birth of an infant 'around the sixth month of foetal life' forced Jean-Louis-Paul Denuce, Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Bordeaux School of Medicine, to address two key problems: how to feed the baby, and how to maintain its temperature.2 Eschewing existing methods of warming (which included hot baths,3 swaddling in sheepskin4 and placing the newborn in a jar full of feathers5) Denuce 'had the idea of having a cradle made in which it would be possible to maintain a constant heat of a desired degree.' Produced by the instrument maker Monsieur Gendron, the 'incubating cradle for infants born before term' was constructed from zinc, and possessed a double bottom and double walls, which could be filled with hot water by means of a funnel attached to the top, and drained via a faucet at its base. Drawing off 0.5 l of water every 6 h and replacing it with an equal volume of boiling water, Denuce succeeded in preserving the infant's life for 17 days 'without it being possible to observe... the slightest cooling in body temperature.' Sadly however, his attempts to provide nourishment proved less successful, and 'despite all the care lavished on the little patient... from the eighth day weight loss began and continued until the end.'
ISSN:0310-057X
1448-0271
DOI:10.1177/0310057X221148277