Effect of phototherapy on thermal environment of the newborn.

Oxygen consumption was studied in 40 newborn babies undergoing phototherapy for hyperbilirubinaemia, both when enclosed within an incubator or nursed in an open cot. Exposure to phototherapy caused a rise in temperature at the mattress surface. This could result in overheating a baby nursed in an incubator, but by contrast is likely only partially to compensate for the loss of insulation of an unclothed baby in an open cot.