ABSTRACT
The concept of homeostasis (homeo same, stasis stop) was introduced by a nineteenth-century French physiologist, Claude Bernard, who described it as ‘the fixity of the milieu interieur’. In current terms, homeostasis is the maintenance of a steady internal environment in the presence of changing conditions. Parameters maintained are temperature, glucose, electrolytes, acid-base balance, fluids, metabolic rate, respiration and haemodynamics. Due to the unique nature of neonatal physiology, a large proportion of this chapter will focus on neonates.
