Neonatal care platform to facilitate the practice of delayed cord clamping

Neonatal care platform to facilitate the practice of delayed cord clamping

Devendra M Ghodki , Nidhya Joghee
Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC), IIT Madras, Chennai, India

Need of an innovation: The prevalence of the clinical practice of Delayed Cord Clamping (DCC) particularly during caesarean deliveries is low. The challenges faced by the health professionals include unavailability of continuous vital monitoring for assessing the newborn during DCC. The novelty of the proposed innovation is to monitor the physiological changes in babies through the intact umbilical cord. In addition, essential newborn care through a sterile adjustable cradle attached to a mobile trolley is facilitated. Optional features like weight measurement, attachments like mayo tray can be further added to the trolley as required. Our proposed innovation would provide the optimal first intervention to maximise the benefits of DCC and also, to ensure a shock-free and smoother transition to extra-uterine life by monitoring the physiological changes in the newborn. Current research evidences indicate benefits of physiological based cord clamping, especially to preterm babies, such as decreased incidences of respiratory morbidities, lower incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis & intraventricular haemorrhage, improved transitional circulation, better establishment of red blood cell volume, reduced need for blood transfusions, and less anaemia.