Expectant mothers at Victoria Jubilee Hospital are set to benefit from enhanced prenatal care after the facility received 27 foetal doppler machines and other items valued at $750,000 from the Jamaica United Relief Association (JURA).

The foetal doppler machines, which are used to detect and monitor the heartbeat of unborn babies, will give both staff and patients more reliable access to information during routine checks.

Senior medical officer (SMO) at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital Dr Garth McDonald explained that the new devices will help to improve patient experience. He noted that the new machines will strengthen basic monitoring and reduce reliance on outdated methods.

“These will help to listen and monitor the baby’s heartbeat, just to check the heartbeat, that mummy can hear, you know, the heart beating, and we know what the heart rate is, and then this is what will help the staff to quickly get that information, and does provide a level of satisfaction to the patients when they do hear the heart beating,” Dr McDonald told the
Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

He pointed out that the foetal dopplers will also help preserve the lifespan of more advanced monitoring systems.

“We do have more sophisticated machines, the CTG, the cardiotocograph machines, that do more intense monitoring, but this is for the basic, quick monitoring and we wouldn’t want to be using the CTG machines, which are much more expensive, to be doing basic function, which will lessen the life of those more sophisticated machines,” added Dr McDonald.

The SMO noted that the hospital had been operating with just six foetal dopplers prior to the donation, with the additional 27 machines significantly increasing the available supply, with more units expected in the near future.

He added that some of the equipment may also be distributed to primary health centres that currently do not have access to such devices.

During his address at the handover ceremony, Dr McDonald used the opportunity to credit JURA not only for its donation of foetal dopplers but for taking a “special interest” in the hospital.

“They have taken a special interest in a hospital that is many times neglected and to a special area, a very special area. They have not waited on crisis to say, ‘I’m gonna run to the nursery.’ They have taken on the nursery head-on with the needs that are there and this in turn would have saved the lives of so many, many, many more Jamaican neonates that are born and kept alive at our nursery, which does have a survival rate of greater than 70 per cent for all babies who would end up on a ventilator or needing some form of respiratory support.”

Dr McDonald revealed that over the years JURA has been one of the hospital’s major benefactors, contributing approximately US$500,000 worth of support, including ventilators, incubators, furniture, and other essential supplies.

In the meantime, president of JURA, Len Johnson, said the donation reflects the organisation’s long-standing mission to support health care and community development in Jamaica.

“In April 1985, JURA was founded by a group of civic-minded Jamaicans abroad, and they were interested in helping, or they saw the need where they needed to help others who were less fortunate. Our core mission is to provide humanitarian aid within the health-care industry foremost. We also support educational needs, and across other communities that are lacking adequate social services, JURA steps in and tries to be a partner,” he explained.

Johnson added that maternal health remains one of the most critical areas of focus.

“Today, as the Victoria Jubilee Hospital focuses on maternal health care, which we know is a cornerstone of a healthy society, we all recognise the critical role which it plays in the lives of countless Jamaican families, particularly expecting mothers and newborns. The tireless work [of the hospital’s medical personnel] aligns with JURA’s mission to support vital health care services, and we are honoured to donate this equipment, which includes, most recently the fetal monitors, and over the years, a number of other items,” added Johnson.

Over the decades, JURA has supported Jamaica through a wide range of initiatives, such as awarding more than 20 scholarships, spearheading school renovation projects, providing disaster relief supplies, contributing to the Jamaica AIDS Foundation, and donating vital medical equipment to hospitals and clinics.

Senior medical officer at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital Dr Garth McDonald

From left: Executive director of Jamaica United Relief Association (JURA) Roxanna Blisset; president of JURA Len Johnson; senior medical officer at Victoria Jubilee Hospital Dr Garth McDonald; Elise Fairweather Blackwood, director of nursing services at Victoria Jubilee Hospital; and gynaecologist Dr Clayon Kelly.