Current health statistics show that around 20 million premature babies are born everyday of which 450 babies die every hour. Medical experts suggest that this immature death can be avoided simply by keeping the baby warm.
A baby remains under very warm condition inside the womb of the mother. After the delivery, it is very important to provide the baby with the same kind of environment by maintaining the temperature, especially of the premature babies because they have very less body fat to keep them warm. The artificial system, which provides premature babies with regulated medical conditions, is the incubators. Unfortunately, this cannot be afforded by many state run hospitals due to their stringent financial condition.
Among the various hospitals that provide suitable medical facilities, GE Healthcare in Bangalore is doing a good job by constructing a customized Lullaby baby-warmer. The machine was developed and launched in the year 2009. The authority states that it is cost effective ($3000 or 1900 pound) than its conventional models. There are other advantages like, the low power consumption factor and easy operational system. The last feature is suitable for even an illiterate health care staff. The incubator includes pictorial warnings and colored bottoms, which enables proper functioning of the machine.
In a place like India that produces one baby per second and where the pre natal deaths are high the provision for the incubators are of utmost importance. Besides health care stats show that nearly 70 per cent of the population lives in the rural areas where medical facilities are meager. Therefore keeping a premature baby alive means to wrap it in layers of cloth or keep it under light bulbs.
To bring about a change in the medical scenario four graduates Jane Chen, Nagaland Murty, Rahul Panicker and Linus Liang designed an affordable incubator. They invented a sleeping bag that can be heated within 30 minutes with the help of a portable heater. The inventive venture has till now saved approximately 22000 premature infants. The organization Embrace revealed plans to expand their program. A new model by Embrace is currently undergoing clinical test in India. The new model can be used by mothers at home without the aid of health care staffs. It has further launched training programs for the pregnant women and medical assistances. A company spokesperson commented that both advanced technology and education is necessary for the uplift of the health condition of the people. It further revealed plans to tie up with different government and non-government organization.
Jayalakshmi Devi is glad about the way the new incubator is working. She narrates her personal experience about her baby that weighs less than 1.2 pound. She came to Vanivilas hospital from a rural health care center after delivering her premature son. Under critical condition, he was admitted. However, the Jayalakshmi is happy the way her son’s condition is stabilized.
An official of GE Healthcare, Ravi Kaushik assures that the inventive venture aims at providing excellent medical care to the rural people through better equipment and proper medical attention.