Inspired By NASA’s Anti-Gravity Suits, These Miracle Suits Are Saving New Mothers From Death
Inspired by NASA research on inflated anti-gravity suit or G-suit,
"miracle suits" are helping new mothers survive blood loss after birth
in developing countries, including India.
bixbycenter.ucsf.edu
California-based Zoex Corporation was the first company to develop commercially available pressure garments suitable for treating shock and blood loss in new mothers.
Since the pressure does not need to be as strong as in military and aviation cases, the company scrapped the old-style G-suits for a non-pneumatic version using simple elastic compression.
In a recent study by NASA Ames Research Centre and other researchers, the garments saved 13 out of 14 patients in Pakistan who were in shock from extreme blood loss.
In another study in Egypt and Nigeria, the garment reduced both blood loss and mortality from postpartum haemorrhage by 50 percent.
"In the field of maternal health, we generally don't see that kind of a reduction, and even more so when it's the result of a single, simple intervention," said Suellen Miller, founder of the Safe Motherhood Programme which aims to reduce pregnancy - and childbirth-related deaths and illnesses across the globe.
nasa.gov
By 2012, the World Health Organisation and the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians both decided to officially recommend the device to treat postpartum haemorrhage.
Since then, 20 countries have purchased a lower-cost version of the pressure garment called "LifeWrap", produced by a manufacturer founded by Safe Motherhood and the non-profit PATH.
"We've determined that these suits can be used at least 70 times,"
Miller said. "So we're looking at a life-saving device that costs less
than a dollar per use."
LifeWrap is applied to a woman suffering from postpartum haemorrhage.
More recently, Miller and her colleagues conducted training for Doctors Without Borders and the Canadian Red Cross so they could use the garment in Ebola-stricken countries in Africa.
"LifeWraps" have also been provided for ambulances in East Timor and are being used increasingly throughout rural Tanzania.
nasa.gov
Miller thanks the US space agency for the critical role it played in getting the technology to this point.
"We're taking this suit to the village, we're taking it to the hut, we're taking it to the poorest, most vulnerable, voiceless, powerless people grounded into the Earth, and making a difference for them," she said in a NASA statement.
Miller also reported that some of the doctors and midwives she has met have voiced their own thanks for the garment, which has taken many names over the years: they like to call it the "miracle suit".
Every year, at least 70,000 women die from obstetric haemorrhage - mostly in the world's least developed countries.
Suits that are helping new mothers survive blood loss.
bixbycenter.ucsf.edu
California-based Zoex Corporation was the first company to develop commercially available pressure garments suitable for treating shock and blood loss in new mothers.
Since the pressure does not need to be as strong as in military and aviation cases, the company scrapped the old-style G-suits for a non-pneumatic version using simple elastic compression.
In a recent study by NASA Ames Research Centre and other researchers, the garments saved 13 out of 14 patients in Pakistan who were in shock from extreme blood loss.
In another study in Egypt and Nigeria, the garment reduced both blood loss and mortality from postpartum haemorrhage by 50 percent.
"In the field of maternal health, we generally don't see that kind of a reduction, and even more so when it's the result of a single, simple intervention," said Suellen Miller, founder of the Safe Motherhood Programme which aims to reduce pregnancy - and childbirth-related deaths and illnesses across the globe.
The WHO officially recommends this suit to treat haemorrhage. Over 20 countries are now using it.
nasa.gov
By 2012, the World Health Organisation and the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians both decided to officially recommend the device to treat postpartum haemorrhage.
Since then, 20 countries have purchased a lower-cost version of the pressure garment called "LifeWrap", produced by a manufacturer founded by Safe Motherhood and the non-profit PATH.
LifeWrap is applied to a woman suffering from postpartum haemorrhage.
More recently, Miller and her colleagues conducted training for Doctors Without Borders and the Canadian Red Cross so they could use the garment in Ebola-stricken countries in Africa.
"LifeWraps" have also been provided for ambulances in East Timor and are being used increasingly throughout rural Tanzania.
NASA has played an important role in developing the technology.
nasa.gov
Miller thanks the US space agency for the critical role it played in getting the technology to this point.
"We're taking this suit to the village, we're taking it to the hut, we're taking it to the poorest, most vulnerable, voiceless, powerless people grounded into the Earth, and making a difference for them," she said in a NASA statement.
Miller also reported that some of the doctors and midwives she has met have voiced their own thanks for the garment, which has taken many names over the years: they like to call it the "miracle suit".
Every year, at least 70,000 women die from obstetric haemorrhage - mostly in the world's least developed countries.
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