ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – Two foetal heart rate machines that doctors use to monitor late pregnancy and labour were yesterday presented to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay.

“These monitors are used to monitor the foetal heart during labour and are absolutely important. The nurse can just watch the monitor and tell if the baby is okay and so we can intervene long before disaster strikes,” Regional Director of the Western Regional Health Authority, Dr Ken-Garfield Douglas, said at the handing over.

Dr Douglas pointed out that the machines are mandatory for hospitals islandwide, and that it would be “a wonderful thing for all the hospitals to have as many as possible.”

The machines were donated by a group called, ‘Friends of the Ulster Spring Hospital’, in Trelawny. They also gave similar equipment to the Ulster Spring and Falmouth hospitals.

Senior Medical Officer at the Cornwall Regional, Dr Delroy Fray, explained that foetal heart rate monitoring is used in nearly every pregnancy at prenatal visits, noting that it is done to check on how the fetus is doing and to look for any problems.

He said foetal heart rate monitoring is especially helpful if there is a high-risk pregnancy, and explained that pregnancy is deemed high risk if the woman has diabetes or high blood pressure. “It is also high risk if the foetus is not developing or growing as it should,” Dr Fray added.