Coventry University Hospital launches baby "brain cooling" technology

COVENTRY’S University Hospital is set to launch a state-of-the-art new service to save some of the region’s sickest babies.
The “brain cooling” technology is so new that results of the extensive trials were only published last year and it received official NHS backing last month.
It will allow doctors and nurses to wrap sick babies in special cool blankets to drop their temperature and prevent fatal brain damage.

University Hospital already has one £15,000 brain cooler and aims to buy a second with money raised by the UHCW Charity’s flagship Baby Care Appeal.
In August a team of Hollyoaks heartthrobs will take on former Coventry City and Nuneaton Borough stars to raise money for the appeal.
Dr Kate Blake, consultant neonatologist at University Hospital, said: “These machines will significantly improve a number of children’s chances of surviving as well as reducing their chances of suffering brain damage and conditions such as cerebral palsy.”
The treatment will help babies who suffer serious trauma before or during birth, perhaps because they start bleeding or because their mother’s placenta rips.
Cooling their bodies from the normal 37 degrees to 33.5 degree stops their brain swelling.
It also slows down their metabolism to stop harmful toxins being released into the blood and reaching their brain during their first three days of life.