Meet Linda. Linda is healthy three-month-old baby who was born in Malawi. If it wasn't for PeriGen’s technology, a Halma company based in North Carolina, US, she wouldn’t have survived the birth.
Linda’s mum, Excyna, is a nurse at the Bwaila Fistula Centre in Lilongwe, the bustling capital of Malawi. At 38 weeks pregnant, she finished a night shift feeling unusually tired. Her colleague noticed she was looking particularly unwell and suggested an ultrasound to check on baby Linda. It showed dangerously low fluid in the womb, a crucial factor for a baby's health and development. Low fluid levels late in pregnancy may indicate complications and could necessitate early delivery.
Worried about her and her baby’s well-being, Excyna went to the Area 25 Health Centre, a public hospital for women’s health, for further monitoring. Upon examination, it was decided that labour needed to be induced. Excyna’s labour didn’t progress very well, and baby Linda’s vitals started to decline. PeriGen's technology immediately notified the medical staff of an urgent requirement for a caesarean to ensure baby Linda's survival. Less than an hour later Linda was born safely.
The global challenges of childbirth
Worldwide, about 140 million women give birth every year. Tragically, however, around one million new-born babies die within the first 24 hours.
In Malawi, babies have some of the worst survival odds in the world. 21 out of every 1,000 babies die during delivery and a further 26 of out of every 1,000 babies die in the first 28 days of their life.
For many mothers in Malawi going into labour, maternity wards and clinics are simply overwhelmed with patients, with not enough trained professionals or the right equipment to look after them. As a result, the country suffers from a shockingly high stillbirth and neonatal death rate; one of the highest in the world.
Early warning system
Introducing PeriGen’s technology to the clinical team at Area 25 has enabled the health centre to accelerate their mission of improving the quality of maternal healthcare and reducing the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths.
PeriGen provides Artificial Intelligence based software solutions to improve health outcomes during childbirth. It acts as an automated early warning system for both mothers and babies, tracking vital information such as fetal heart rate, contractions, and labour progression. It detects abnormalities during the birthing process and immediately notifies the clinicians in charge about problems, helping to improve timely and appropriate medical interventions. The system provides caregivers the confidence to know they can safely monitor multiple mothers and babies, even in a full labour ward.
Transforming health outcomes for mothers and babies
Today, Linda continues to thrive, and her mum Excyna is enjoying motherhood. Thankfully she is not the only baby to have benefited from PeriGen’s technology.
A recent study has shown that the Area 25 health centre managed to reduce stillbirth and early neonatal death rates by a further 82% since the collaboration with PeriGen. Thanks to PeriGen’s technology, they are delivering more healthy babies and helping to improve the odds for better health outcomes for new babies in Malawi.
”Even as technology becomes more available in resource-constrained environments, the main factor to improve care globally is the experience and expertise to effectively translate data to improved care. Systems such as PeriGen’s provide continuous, objective and actionable information, and helps train care teams as well.”
Matt Sappern, PeriGen CEO
