The National Institutes of Health finds cooling a baby's body temperature may help treat birth complications and help them survive into early childhood.
Hypothermia treatment uses cool water to lower an infant's body temperature to 91 degrees fahrenheit.
It is becoming a popular way to reduce the risk of death among babies who have an oxygen deficiency at birth.
After looking at years of data, researchers say children treated with hypothermia were more likely to be alive at age 6 or 7 than children who received routine care.
Hypothermia also caused no increase in physical or mental impairments in these children.
All the children in the study had been diagnosed with HIE, a severe form of oxygen deprivation.
These children are at risk for brain damage and learning disabilities.
