When mechatronics engineer Sarah McDonald experienced the traumatic birth of her second child, Oliver, she knew there had to be a better way to monitor fetal and maternal health.
Almost nine years since the inception of Ms McDonald’s company, Baymatob, and the creation of Oli, the company has scored $4.2 million in funding from Australian Unity’s Future of Healthcare Fund, and it is undertaking a pilot study at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney in which 209 pregnant women have been involved to date.Advertisement
PPH is experienced by an estimated 5 to 15 per cent of women after childbirth and can cause debilitating outcomes including emergency hysterectomy and death.While at this stage PPH detection has been the focus of the clinical studies, early work is also under way to assess the effectiveness of Oli at detecting if a woman is likely to have a stillborn baby or suffer from uterine rupture, before they take place.
“We intend to put in FDA and TGA regulatory submissions late in 2023 for the first commercial sales to occur late in 2024,” Ms Croft said.