Nigeria did not achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) for the reduction
of under-5 mortality (U5M) in 2015. Neonatal death still accounts for nearly 50%
of U5M, hence responsible for this failure. The World Health Organisation records
showed that 79% of deceased neonates would die within the first-seven-days
(F7D) of life in Nigeria. Prolonged postnatal delay before attainment of normal
body temperature could be partly responsible. Reducing F7D deaths could improve
Nigeria’s overall record; hence the urgent need to device a technique that could
be applied to achieve this. We developed a neonatal temperature control protocol
“the initial-setpoint-algorithm (ISA)” as a response to temperature-related high
F7D mortality rate. A total 134 cases (105 controls and 29 tests) were recruited.
The cases drew from extremely- low birth weight and preterm neonates (BW =
600-1200 g, GA = 26-32 weeks) presenting at the University of Abuja Teaching
Hospital Nigeria. Mortality outcomes were compared to investigate how the
ISA group performed relative to the Control group. Applying ISA, Test-patients
attained normotherm in 0.47 hr post-presenting (95%CI: 0.2); Control took 12.4
hrs (95%CI: 2.3). The F7D-deaths contribution to mortality in the control group
was 71% (41 out of 58). There was no F7D death amongst the only two deceased
neonates in the test group. The ISA helped quick attainment of normotherm in the
Test-group; hence removed the immediate postnatal long exposure to damaging
thermal shock that trailed other neonates to death within the F7D period.