Saudi Gazette A modern, advanced treatment for saving lives of newborns is now available at a hospital in Najran. The treatment known as cool cap therapy is used for newborn babies who suffer from oxygen deprivation at birth. A lack of oxygen to the baby's brain for only a few minutes can result in severe mental and physical retardation, blindness, cerebral palsy, or even death. Oxygen deprivation may be caused due to complications at birth. For instance, if the umbilical cord gets trapped between a baby's head and the wall of the uterus, pressure on the cord may cut off the baby's oxygen supply. A large amount of blood loss from the mother at birth may also cause hypoxia or oxygen deprivation. The cool cap therapy can notably reduce the degree of mental and physical disability of the baby. A helmet pumped with a coolant is placed over the baby's head and the tubes circulate cold water through the helmet for a cooling effect. It keeps the infant's brain cool while the rest of the body remains about 3 degrees below normal body temperature. Cooling the brain reduces the swelling that results from oxygen deprivation and this is helpful because it is the swelling that causes lasting brain damage. Dr. Baraa Muhammad Al-Debais, consultant neonatologist at the Delivery and Children's Hospital in Najran, is very excited to have this technology available in the Kingdom. He said, “We bring the baby's temperature down from the normal 37 degrees to around 33 to 35 degrees during first hour after birth. It is critical to start the treatment early, no later than 6 hours after the baby's birth. Studies have shown that cool cap therapy is effective in decreasing the severity of neurological damage in newborns who have suffered hypoxia.” __
