HEARTBEAT MONITOR
Pre-Natal Check (N.Z. Press Association) WANGANUI. June 9. A Wanganui obstetrician has received a £l5O grant from the Palmerston North Medical Research Foundation to develop a foetal monitor. This instrument is placed on the mother’s stomach during labour. It records the baby’s heartbeat and rings an alarm if there is any irregularity.
The obstetrician has been working on the instrument for some time, and the grant will help him perfect it. Some work has been done in Auckland on a similar instrument.
“By the use of this continuous monitor it may be possible for us to detect deviations from the baby’s normal heartbeat, which would prompt us to make an immediate delivery,” the obstetrician said.
He explained that a falter in the baby’s heartbeat in the difficult labour period, even for a short time, could cause damage to the brain which could result in stillbirth or the birth of an intellectually handicapped or spastic child. It is common practice now to carry out checks on the baby’s heartbeat during labour, but these cannot be continuous.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CII, Issue 30153, 10 June 1963, Page 2
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177HEARTBEAT MONITOR Press, Volume CII, Issue 30153, 10 June 1963, Page 2
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