US researchers said that chilling certain new-born babies within the first six hours after birth could lower their risk of disability and death.
Instead of giving them warm welcome, doctors at the National Institutes of Health said a cooling treatment would be better for infants who failed to receive enough oxygen or blood to the brain during birth.
"The experimental cooling of new-borns to prevent death and injury from oxygen deprivation during birth is extremely promising," said Dr Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
The condition, called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), may result from a variety of causes, including tearing of the placenta from the uterine wall before birth, rupture of the uterus and compression of the umbilical cord.