Haemorrhaging at the time of delivering a baby is responsible for one third of the 5,00,000 deaths taking place in a year during child births. With a view to combat this, a re-usable, lightweight suit, which resembles the bottom half of a wetsuit, has been designed. The garment consisting of five segments with Velcro, pushes blood from the legs to the other essential organs of the body if a woman haemorrhages during the delivery.
The scientists, whose findings are reported online by the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, used the suit on 206 women with obstetrical haemorrhaging and compared the results with 159 women who had standard treatment for bleeding.
They found that women using the suit lost half the amount of blood as the others.
“In our research, women who appeared clinically dead, with no blood pressure and no palpable pulse, were resuscitated and kept alive for up to two days while waiting for blood transfusions,” Miller said in a statement.
It is said that the birth suit is designed keeping in mind the developing countries where women giving birth at homes is still prevalent.
Via: Reuters
