North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) 2026 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

Non-shivering thermogenesis relies on brown adipose tissue to generate heat without shivering. The presence and functional capacity of brown fat in newborns depend on how far along gestation is completed. Term infants have more brown fat and the cellular machinery (including UCP1 in mitochondria) to burn that fat and produce heat quickly in response to cold exposure. Preterm infants, with less brown fat, have a reduced ability to activate this heat-producing process.

Environmental temperature can create the need to generate heat, but if brown fat isn’t available in sufficient quantity, the newborn can’t activate non-shivering thermogenesis effectively. Nutrition provides calories, but it doesn’t directly turn on brown fat. Emotional response doesn’t drive this metabolic pathway.

So, the factor that enables non-shivering thermogenesis to occur in newborns is being born at an appropriate gestational age, ensuring adequate brown fat stores.