It has been suggested that the brown fat seen in newborns is more sensitive to hypoxic injury than fat seen in adults, and that such hypoxia, usually in the context of a complicated birth, leads to the fat necrosis.
Some experts suggest that the brown fat found in newborns is more vulnerable to oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) than the fat present in adults. This hypoxia, typically associated with difficult births, can lead to fat cell death or necrosis.