Objective:  To evaluate the relationship between maternal hypothermia and newborn temperatures in cesarean births.

Design: Retrospective chart review of low risk cesarean sections performed over a 6 month time period using epidural anesthesia. 

Setting: Urban academic medical center in the south eastern United States providing care to a diverse population of families. 

Patients/Participants: Low risk mothers at greater than 39 weeks gestation scheduled for a cesarean section with planned epidural anesthesia. 

Methods: Retrospective chart review following IRB approval. Statistical analysis included descriptive analysis of the sample and odds ratio. 

Results:  The sample included 143 charts. From this sample there were 46 (36.5%) recorded cases of newborn hypothermia, and 27 (21%) cases of maternal hypothermia. Using logistic regression, the odds of a newborn being hypothermic, given that the mother was hypothermic post-op was 2.1 (CI: 0.856-5.139; p=0.1055) Despite being statistically non-significant, most likely related to sample size, there is a clinical significance as greater than 1/3 of the sample of newborn experienced hypothermia during the transition period of birth. 

Conclusion/Implications for nursing practice: Maternal hypothermia is clinically significance to neonatal outcomes. Nursing has a responsibility to address hypothermia in mothers undergoing cesarean sections through assessment and interventions preoperatively and postoperatively. 

Keywords:  Maternal hypothermia, neonatal hypothermia, epidural anesthesia, cesarean section