Week 7

Today was mostly spent in the giving of presentations, including mine (as I was gone last week for the ASC Outback trip). Here is most of my presentation.

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If you had to guess the second-ranking cause of death in infants, what would you speculate? Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? Pregnancy complications? Uncontrollable birth defects? Actually, none of the above. The answer would be premature and low-weight births.

This issue is one that affects millions of families every year. Not just because of the immediate medical concerns for the premature or low-weight babies, but because of the possible long-term consequences. This and other causes of infant death are of such importance that in 1990 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit pledged to reduce the deaths of children under 5 years of age by two thirds by the year 2015.

Over recent decades, the survival of premature newborns has improved dramatically. For many of these children, their long-term chances are very good, and they develop normally. However, the risk of death and long-term problems begins to increase the more premature their birth or lower their birth weight. These risks are raised exponentially when proper medical care is not available, as is the case in developing countries. In fact, of the 13 million premature babies alone that are born each year, 11 million are born in Africa and Asia - often in areas that don’t have access to modern medicine and technology, including incubators.

In the need for these incubators lies one of the biggest problems. Hypothermia remains among the top challenges for premature and low-weight babies: they are not able to regulate their own body temperature, and therefore cannot stay warm. This occurs for several reasons. First of all, premature newborns have a large skin surface area relative to their weight, so they lose heat rapidly. Also, they have a much lower percentage of body fat, an immature neurological system, fragile skin, and a poor metabolism. The most important thing a baby should be doing in the first month of its life is growing. But because these childrens’ bodies are busy trying to stay warm, they aren’t able to develop properly. The babies’ response to this decreasing body temperature is a slower heart rate, lower blood pressure, heart irregularities, fainting, and eventually death. If the child does survive, some of the long-term consequences may include early diabetes, heart disease, low IQ, cerebral palsy, vision impairment, and many more life-long illnesses. And yet in so many cases these could be prevented simply by helping the babies stay warm.

Incubators do solve this problem.  They provide a warming and safe environment for the premature and low-weight babies that allows them to maintain their body temperature much more easily (a radiant heater sometimes being used for this). They are in wide use in hospitals and clinics. However, incubators have limitations. Namely, they are not portable, they require electricity, and they can cost up to $20,000. Considering that 11 million out of the 13 million premature babies are born in developing countries and often in rural areas, this is not very practical, and incubators are very hard to come by in these places. Because of this, many parents have tried alternatives to help their children survive, including tying hot water bottles to the babies, putting them under artificial lighting, and placing them close to hot coals. None of these options are working ones in the long run, and they are certainly not safe.

What is needed then is a local solution – something that could work without electricity. It needs to be simple enough for a mother or midwife to use, considering the fact that in rural areas most births still take place in the home. It needs to be portable and easily accessible, as well as easily sterilized to be used for multiple babies. And of course it needs to be in a price range that is practical and reasonable for low-income families.

The Embrace Infant Warmer solves these problems. Designer Jane Chen created this solution after a visit to India and an encounter with a woman who had lost her premature baby because she didn’t have the means to get to the nearest hospital in time. A life-saving little blanket that resembles a baby’s sleeping bag is the result.

The secret is in the phase-changing material contained in the heating pouch. It is a wax-like substance that has a melting point of 37 degrees Celsius – human body temperature. It can be melted just by using hot water. Once the material is melted, it can maintain a constant temperature for four to six hours, after which you simply reheat and remelt the pouch. While the heating pouch is warm, it is placed in the back pocket of the Infant Warmer. Here it creates a warm, sustainable microenvironment for the baby. The material is waterproof, and there are no seams on the inside, which allows it to be easily sterilized. No electricity is necessary, and the design is simple and practical, making it something a mother or midwife could feel comfortable using without a doctor’s supervision. And the cost of these warmers is a mere 25 dollars – less than .1% of the cost of an incubator.

The repercussions of this are enormous. The first clinical trial already having been successful, over the next 3 years Embrace claims that by providing affordable and accessible solutions to prevent hypothermia, the Embrace Infant warmer will save the lives of roughly 100,000 babies and prevent lifelong illness in another 800,000. (Embraceglobal.com)

Sources:
www.embraceglobal.org

www.ted.com

http://blog.ted.com

http://dying.about.com/od/pediatriccare/tp/leading_causes_infant_death.htm

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/979717-overview

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Largest-number-of-premature-babies-born-in-Asia-and-Africa/articleshow/5412579.cms

‘Hypothermia and Your Premature Baby’ by Sjona Lindquist

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=dyiggxcab&v=001rBBS2uM5H3_L09Ge1el2aOpbkBwE8zRauwWkz131oysuw8S2c7THSKHPuPuJl-bhXCaK4VLOBnbTw0ppWb1F2pPDUyqp1E_gLirD1PypREw%3D

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec23/ch264/ch264c.html

http://www.missionhospitals.org/

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Another thing we discussed in class was Classicism, and the rehashing of Greek and Roman architecture.

Classical architecture elements include "the golden rectangle as a key proportion for buildings, the classical orders of columns, as well as a host of ornament and detail associated with Greek and Roman architecture. They also began reviving plastic arts such as bronze casting for sculpture, and used the classical naturalism as the foundation of drawing, painting and sculpture"  as well as semicircular arches, domes, niches, etc. It places an emphasis on symmetry, proportions, geometry, and "the regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in the architecture of Classical antiquity and in particular, the architecture of Ancient Rome." (wikipedia.com)

Here are some examples of classicist architecture:

http://homeinteriordesign.biz/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/New-Classicism-of-The-Rebirth-of-Traditional-Architecture-2.jpg

http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/10/1028/K9QW000Z.jpg

http://www.livelygrey.com/White_House_lr.jpg

http://www.dreamhomedesignusa.com/images/Photoshop%20Images/Renaissance%20Palace%20Classical%20Architect.jpg

http://www.wlbooks.com/wlb455/images/items/40649.jpg

http://0.tqn.com/d/architecture/1/0/N/q/USCapitol.jpg

Many of the elements of classicism are very symbolic, and some of these elements have been brought back into architecture with post-modernism. (Asymmetrical balance followed the "wishy-wishy" stage which followed classicism...then modernism.) Post-modernism really began to grow in popularity in the 1980's - and the place to be for post-modern design at the time was Italy. They hated modernism, particularly because the Fascists (WWII, Nazi's, etc.) were associated with it.

http://www6.worldisround.com/photos/24/131/204.jpg