New tech to help save babies

Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital, along with Lincoln County Hospital, has received a machine for treating new born babies deprived of oxygen.
The Criticool lowers a baby’s body temperature in time to allow treatment and lessen the likelihood of any brain damage occurring.
Practice development nurse Dave Speck said: “When complications happen during labour, a baby can be deprived of oxygen, leading to injury to the brain.
“It is essential that we treat them straight away, by cooling their body temperature. We have just six hours to do this and prevent potential brain damage or other complications that can impact the child’s entire life.”
“The Criticool is a system to assist with this treatment of ‘therapeutic hypothermia’. A cooling blanket is wrapped around the baby and cold water is pumped through tiny tubes which reduces the infant’s body temperature.
“The baby is carefully monitored and rewarmed to normal body temperature after 72 hours.”
Prior to receiving the Criticool system, the only option was to allow the baby to cool down naturally and the NICU Team would request an immediate transfer to a specialist hospital at either Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre or Leicester Royal Infirmary via a specialist ambulance service which was sited at Castle Donington in Leicestershire.
It all had to be done within six hours.
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity, which purchased the equipment, says it will mean that even if a baby needs to be transferred to another hospital anyway, it will allow time for the mother to recover to travel alongside them.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity manager Ben Petts said: “We are incredibly proud to provide these Criticool systems for the hospital neo-natal units. They are truly life-saving pieces of equipment that give our highly specialised medical teams a critical resource in providing exemplary care to our most vulnerable patients.”