Reasons for offering cooling therapy or not for babies with mild neonatal encephalopathy (NE)
| Units offering cooling therapy in mild NE (multiple selections possible) | 36 (75%) |
| Risk of long-term adverse neurological problems | 17 (47%) |
| It is very difficult to grade NE soon after birth | 25 (69%) |
| Mild NE may progress to moderate NE, missing the window period of cooling | 28 (78%) |
| Litigation risks if baby is not offered cooling and later develops neurological deficits | 8 (22%) |
| Cooling therapy is extremely safe and easy to provide | 12 (33%) |
| Other* | 8 (22%) |
| Units not offering cooling therapy in mild NE (multiple selections possible) | 12 (25%) |
| The vast majority of babies with mild NE do well and do not get any neurological deficit | 7 (58%) |
| There is no evidence to support cooling in babies with mild NE | 12 (100%) |
| Cooling therapy is not without side effects | 5 (42%) |
| Avoiding additional interventions (ventilation/sedation) or prolonged hospitalisation | 3 (25%) |
Other reasons reported were: those with abnormal aEEG may benefit (three responses); based on clinical experience (one response), colleague/network advice (one response). Three units gave unclear answers.