Premature babies are little great heroes and increasingly get ahead without sequels. One of its biggest problems is that they do not regulate the temperature well, so it is essential that skin contact with skin is carried out with premature babies and that they remain in an incubator that controls their temperature. This is not always possible, or you can not control the temperature of the child in optimal conditions, so a bracelet that controls the temperature of the baby has been invented.
Every year 15 million premature babies are born in the world, as we have seen recently on the occasion of World Premature Day. This is one in ten births, many of which take place in countries without resources. A startup in India, Bempu, has developed this bracelet that helps control the temperature of premature newborns and warn if this is too high or too low, protecting them a little more when the baby's control situation is not the best.
In India, every year about eight million low-weight premature babies are at risk of hypothermia, and this bracelet would be better than a thermometer because it constantly monitors the child's temperature, sounding if there is any risk. This would not seem necessary if the control conditions of the children were optimal, but unfortunately it does not always happen.
The bracelet would help in situations like those of several premature newborns who share an incubator, when the parents cannot be close (they receive the warning that their baby is not well), when there are not enough health professionals for so many babies and these are not controlled properly, when health infrastructure is poor and there is some chaos that can lead to confusion in the follow-up of babies ...
In addition, these situations, which are frequent in developing countries, can lead to discharging babies too soon and then, when parents take them home and there is still a risk, and they also have no basic notions of temperature control. correct, the bracelet would provide them with that peace of mind. Recall that half of the deaths of newborns in the world occur at home and especially in these countries.
The bracelet for prematurity is a help, not a substitute
At the moment we know a but to this invention and it is to be taken into account that, according to a follow-up, whose conclusions have not yet been published, the bracelet did not take the baby's temperature well in some cases (compared to the correct data taken by nurses) Anyway, as is evident, the bracelet is not intended to replace those parents who make skin with skin, to the incubators or to those health professionals who have to control them, but rather it supposes one more aid to the correct control of these delicate babies who, on the other hand, also present other risks and not only that of the poor thermoregulation.
It is not the first invention to try to control the temperature of premature babies, nor the first directed to developing countries, for which it has been designed on several occasions low cost incubators, as we have been telling you in the Blog.
When a baby suffers from hypothermia, that is, when its temperature drops below 36.5 degrees, there is a higher risk of fatal conditions such as asphyxiation, sepsis and pneumonia. India has the highest number of infant deaths caused by premature births, most of which could be avoided. And maintaining the body temperature of a newborn is essential for its survival.
The Bempu company has benefited from grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, UK Aid and other agencies for the development of this bracelet. He is currently conducting a pilot program in the desert state of Rajasthan, funded by the WISH health foundation, which aims to have his bracelets distributed free to the families of all babies discharged from government hospitals.
The bracelet that controls the temperature of premature babies and that could save their lives It has an autonomous battery that lasts a month, the critical period for these children. The company is currently carrying out a crowdfunding campaign that will help supply the bracelets to disadvantaged mothers at the Premature Babies Foundation for the winter months, when the risk of hypothermia increases.
Photos | Bempu, iStock
Via | The guardian
Official Site | Bempu
In Babies and more | Pollution, noise and heat waves influence the increase in premature births, When incubators were exhibited at fairs ... with the baby inside, Seven normal feelings if you are the mother or father of a premature baby
