Changing Humidity Levels for Preemies: A Study

Scientists recently studied how quickly lowering humidity in incubators affects tiny, extremely preterm babies. They wanted to see if suddenly stopping or slowly reducing the humidity caused temperature issues, like getting too cold or hot, or problems with their body's salt balance or skin. The study took place in a big hospital in Queensland, Australia, from April 2019 to March 2022. They had 140 babies, split into two groups. One group had the humidity turned off suddenly on the 8th day, while the other group had it reduced by 5% each day until the 14th day. Researchers checked for temperature swings, salt balance issues, and skin injuries. They found no big differences between the two groups. About 77% of babies in the sudden stop group got too hot, compared to 73% in the slow reduction group. Hypothermia was more common in the sudden stop group, but not significantly so. Salt balance problems and skin injuries were similar in both groups.