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During childbirth, the baby鈥檚 heart rate, the mother鈥檚 heart rate and uterine activity are continuously monitored. This information helps healthcare professionals assess the baby鈥檚 condition and keep track of the progress of labor. However, the technology that has been used for this purpose for many years can suffer from signal loss at crucial moments, for example when the mother or baby moves.

An electrode can be placed to improve the signal. However, this invasive method carries risks for both mother and baby, such as infections, and is therefore not preferred.

There is room for improvement, says Phebe Berben, a PhD candidate at 黑料福利网鈥檚 Department of Electrical Engineering. Her research is part of a large funded project investigating a new, fully wireless monitoring method. The method is non-invasive and could potentially measure just as accurately as the invasive method.

黑料福利网 PhD candidate Ivar de Vries also  with the technology as part of this project. While he focused on developing algorithms to detect complications during pregnancy at an earlier stage, Berben is primarily investigating the clinical applicability of the technology during and after childbirth.

More accurate measurements

The new method can accurately measure the heart rates of both baby and mother, as well as uterine activity, during childbirth. This allows healthcare professionals to better assess the baby鈥檚 condition. The baby鈥檚 heart rate is considered in relation to uterine contractions.

If there is too little uterine activity, for example, healthcare professionals can administer medication to stimulate contractions at an earlier stage. This can prevent prolonged labor and reduce the risk of infections and postpartum blood loss.

However, too many contractions can also pose risks. 鈥淲ith every contraction, the baby temporarily experiences a small degree of oxygen deprivation. Normally, babies can cope with this quite well because they have various compensatory mechanisms,鈥� Berben explains. 鈥淏ut if you have too many contractions, the baby may not recover as well, and that can become dangerous.鈥�

More accurate measurements could help healthcare professionals intervene earlier when necessary鈥攚hile also preventing unnecessary interventions.

Greater freedom of movement

The new method is not yet being used during childbirth in the Netherlands. To test the method in practice, Berben set up a large clinical study, which is still ongoing. The results will show whether the central hypothesis is correct: that more accurate measurements ultimately lead to fewer interventions, such as Caesarean sections and assisted deliveries, in which an instrument is used to help deliver the baby.

Patient satisfaction is also an important factor. Because the monitoring is completely wireless, women have greater freedom of movement鈥攕omething they often consider important. 鈥淲ith the old monitoring technology, it is important not to move too much during the measurement in order to obtain accurate results. But try lying still when you鈥檙e giving birth,鈥� says Berben.

Also after childbirth

In her PhD research, Berben is also studying the period immediately after childbirth. 鈥淭here is still very little known about this, because current measurement methods are not suitable for accurately measuring uterine activity after childbirth. With the new method, we hope to gain more insight into this,鈥� she says.

One of the greatest risks for women after childbirth is severe blood loss. Particularly in developing countries, this is a major cause of maternal mortality. One possible cause is that the uterine muscle is exhausted after childbirth and therefore does not contract properly. As a result, the blood vessels around the placenta are not compressed sufficiently, leading to heavy blood loss. A retained placenta can also cause blood loss.

However, we still do not have a good understanding of what uterine activity looks like during a normal course of recovery. 鈥淓ssentially, you want to gain insight into normal physiology so that, in the future, you can recognize abnormal activity and prevent complications,鈥� says Berben.

For now, this remains a hypothesis. The large study Berben set up, involving more than two thousand women, should provide greater insight into this.

From research to practice

During her PhD, Berben worked full-time in the hospital and experienced how much is involved in setting up a large-scale study. 鈥淚t requires a great deal: all kinds of ethical approvals, because you are using a new device on pregnant women in an acute-care setting and collecting their data. That makes everything quite complex,鈥� she says.

Moreover, many different parties are involved. A new method should not remain something developed by researchers; ultimately, the staff on the hospital floor have to work with it and, for example, be able to connect the device. That is why good implementation is at least as important as the technology itself, Berben believes. 鈥淚nvolve everyone at a very early stage,鈥� is her advice.

The women who participated in the studies were also fully informed beforehand and could decide for themselves whether they wanted to take part. After giving their consent, the new device was connected as soon as labor began and used throughout the entire delivery, until one and a half hours afterwards. 鈥淚t was always possible to switch back to the old method in the meantime if there were any concerns,鈥� says Berben.

During the studies, Berben was regularly present on the ward to support patients and healthcare professionals, answer questions and help resolve any problems.

Although Berben cannot yet draw firm conclusions 鈥� her study is being continued by successors鈥攕he sees considerable potential in the new approach to monitoring. 鈥淣ot only during childbirth, but especially in the period afterwards. I think the method has the potential to provide accurate results while also increasing patient satisfaction,鈥� she concludes.

This article was originally published by Cursor, the independent news site of 黑料福利网. It is not a press release and is protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced without explicit permission from the Cursor . This article was translated from Dutch to English using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.