Developing a better way of continuously monitoring a baby’s health during labour

To prevent long-term health complications or death, we need better ways of monitoring a baby’s health during labour. Our scientists are building on their previous work and are beginning to manufacture a new sensor based on cutting-edge technology, which could help ensure any problems during labour are spotted and acted on as early as possible.

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    Professor Fiona Denison, Professor Michael Crichton, Burhan Turgut

    Start date: July 2020
     

This project took place at our Edinburgh centre which operated between 2008 and 2021.

Why do we need this research?

If a baby is starved of oxygen during labour, there is a risk they may die or end up with long-term health problems like brain damage. In order to improve outcomes for these babies, researchers funded by Tommy’s have been trying to find better ways of monitoring a baby’s health during labour, so that action can be taken promptly when a baby is in distress. 

What’s happening in this project?

If a baby is thought to be struggling during labour, doctors may check the amount of lactate in their blood. Lactate levels increase in the blood if the body isn’t getting enough oxygen. However, this process is invasive – blood lactate levels are currently measured by making a small cut in the baby’s scalp while still in the womb – and only give a ‘snapshot’ of how the baby is coping, rather than providing a continuous picture of the baby’s health.

Researchers supported by Tommy’s have shown that it is possible to monitor lactate levels another way. By looking at newborn pigs, they showed that lactate levels detected by microdialysis – where tiny needles are placed into the skin to sample the fluid around the cells in the body – mirror lactate levels in the blood. They have also developed preliminary designs for a microdialysis probe that could safely and effectively be attached and removed from a baby’s scalp during labour. 

In this current project, clinical researchers are coming together with engineering experts to build upon the previous work and develop a new technology that can enable better and continuous monitoring of babies during labour. The team will combine a fetal scalp electrode – a wire that is inserted through the cervix onto the baby’s scalp to measure the baby’s heart rate – with a lactate sensor to create a new device that could be used to monitor the health of babies during labour.

What difference will this project make?

If successful, this project has the potential to provide a new technology that could be used to monitor babies during labour, reducing the risk of long-term health problems or death by ensuring that any problems are detected and acted on as quickly as possible.