Neonatal hypoglycemia is a condition resulting from low levels of glucose in babies soon after birth resulting from a failure to adapt to life outside the womb, according to the U.S. government's MedicinePlus website.
Environment
Neonatal hypoglycemia occurs after birth when a newborn baby finds it difficult to adapt from receiving glucose from the placenta within the mother's womb and begins to produce its own glucose from food and the liver.
Levels
The University of Maryland Medical Center reports hypoglycemia is diagnosed when the levels of insulin in the body of a newborn baby drops below 30 mg/dL in the first hours after birth and if the level drops below 45 mg/dL after the first 24 hours of life.
Insulin
Hyper insulinism is reported by the University of Maryland Medical Center as one of the major causes of neonatal hypoglycemia. Hyperinsulinism is described as a level of the hormone insulin in the newborn that is too high, which pulls too much glucose from the blood for conversion to energy.
Other Causes
Neonatal hypoglycemia can also be caused by the newborn's body producing too little glucose for its needs. The University of Maryland Medical Center reports another common cause to be an inability to produce enough glycogen, the form in which glucose is stored in the human body.
Numbers
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, neonatal hypoglycemia is the most common form of metabolic problem in newborn babies with the condition occurring in between 1 and 3 newborns per 1000 births.
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