Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is the single most common cause of death and lifelong neurodisability in term babies. Although cooling treatment improves outcomes for these babies, early identification (within six hours of birth) of 'at risk infants' remains challenging. Consequently, not all babies who need treatment will receive it and other babies receive treatment unnecessarily. Furthermore, neuroprotection from cooling may be lost if baby remains stressed during treatment, but accurate methods of measuring stress in babies are lacking.