Debbie, Susan brought up the brown fat issue. All of this is so closely tied
together.

A separated baby is a cold baby. Cold babies become hypoglycemic, and
nothing in their bodies work well. Their metabolism is messed up, they're
unhappy, people get worried. Hypoglycemic babies get sicker and sicker, and
the sicker they get, the colder they get, and vice versa. They burn up brown
fat stores trying to get warm. Babies are terribly inefficient at producing
heat, and it takes a lot of energy for them to raise their temps. I liken it
to wrapping a chicken breast, or a dead fish. You might keep it from
attaining room temp, but it's not going to warm itself.

A skin-to-skin baby is warmer. Not burning brown fat, not losing blood
glucose, happier. People tend to not worry as much when a baby is warm,
because they don't show symptoms of hypoglycemia.

Studies are showing that adults with larger proportions of brown fat are not
obese. Brown fat is difficult to attain/create, but easy for cold babies to
use. Obese people have large stores of white fat, which is easily created.
Obese people also tend to have very little brown fat stores. Recent adverts
are encouraging people to "create" more brown fat, so they burn calories
better. I wonder if the fact that they have brown fat, they are doing a
better job of metabolizing calories.

This leads me to believe that a cold baby who burns off brown fat liberally
may be more prone to obesity, because they can create white fat easily. It
would be an interesting study. 

If a baby is cold, I can imagine the body is not metabolizing the red blood
cells, either. A warm baby can handle the bilirubins metabolized from the
broken down RBCs, and utilizing the RBC components more efficiently.

Just some thoughts.

Sam Doak

We're going to Candy Mountain, Charlie!


<<

I have seen quoted that skin to skin contact reduces neonatal jaundice.  Is
it 
by virtue of the fact that babies who are kept close to the mother will 
breastfeed more frequently (and more efficiently) and therefore their output
is 
greater, reducing bilirubin levels or is there another physiological reason
for 
the decrease in juandice?  Also, can someone please direct me to any 
research to prove the point?  

Thank you.
Debbie

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