Low-tech suit could cut maternal deaths

The bright blue garment with large yellow numbers looks like an adult diving suit designed by nursery school children.

There are no chest or arm segments and the space between the legs is exposed.

Yet this suit, known as the Non-pneumatic Anti-shock Garment (NASG), has the ability save thousands of lives of women who suffer from bleeding after child birth — what doctors call post-partum haemorrhage — by extending the time the woman can wait for medical interventions by up to six to 48 hours.

Made from neoprene — the same material used to make diving suits — the suit is wrapped around the mother’s legs, pelvis and abdomen then tightened with velcro straps.

The tightening from the legs upwards applies pressure on the lower body, forcing blood up to the essential core organs: heart, lungs and brain.

On the abdominal segment is a foam pressure ball which applies focused external pressure to the uterus, reducing the bleeding.

Worldwide, 14 million women suffer from bleeding after giving birth. If not controlled, the loss of blood causes the woman to go into shock.

When in shock, the brain, heart and lungs are deprived of oxygen because blood accumulates in the lower abdomen and legs.

This is an emergency condition which can cause severe organ failure and death.

Death is swift, often within two hours from when the bleeding starts.

Every year, over 150,000 women die due to post-partum haemorrhage, which translates to a woman dying every four minutes.

Ninety-nine percent of these deaths are in developing countries.

There is, however, a dearth of information on the actual numbers of women dying due to post-partum haemorrhage.

Dr Bryn Kemp, a consultant obstertician-gynecologist from the UK, is currently at the Kilifi District hospital setting up a maternal health surveillance system.

“At the Kilifi District Hospital, we are well equiped to prevent and manage post-partum haemorrhage and, therefore, don’t see huge numbers of cases,” says Dr Kemp.

“Bear in mind that only 30 percent of the mothers within the catchment area of Kilifi District Hospital deliver at this health facility.

“Post-partum haemorrhage, when it happens, is acute, a mother loses 1.5 litres of blood a minute from the uterine artery.

“It does not take long for her to bleed to death.