Trumbull-based CooperSurgical, Inc. recently donated a series of Tria Fetal Dopplers to the Stamford-based philanthropic agency AmeriCares. These devices will be used to assess fetal viability for expectant mothers in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The hand-held dopplers detect a fetal heart rate as early as eight weeks after conception, allowing physicians to confirm a viable fetus and on occasion detect a potentially life-threatening issue prior to birth when the condition may be treatable.
Five of the devices will be delivered to Afshar Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, which treats 4,000 pregnant women each year. The hospital provides obstetric and newborn care, among other services. Afghanistan has the one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and the majority of Afghan women give birth at home without professional medical care and the benefit of modern medical technology. The other two monitors will be delivered to the Dhaka Hospital in Bangladesh, which also has high infant and maternal mortality rates.
“Many young lives will be saved as a direct result of CooperSurgical’s donation,” said AmeriCares Medical Director Dr. Frank Bia in a press release issued Monday. “These devices are relatively easy to use and very effective in detecting fetal distress before delivery, when there is still time for lifesaving interventions.”
