Scientists develop mobile foetal surveillance system

A stillbirth is when a baby dies in the womb or during delivery after 24 weeks of pregnancy – approximately 4,000 babies are stillborn each year in the UK. Many bereaved mothers say that, in the days leading up to the stillbirth, the pattern of their baby’s movements seemed to decrease and the baby did not move around or kick as much as usual.

It is believed that the careful monitoring of a baby’s movements in the womb could provide an early warning if a baby is at risk of stillbirth. This, in turn, would alert doctors, enabling them to intervene and possibly save the baby’s life.

The research team is led by Dr Stephen Ong – a consultant at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital – and includes Dr Joan Condell from Ulster University’s Computer Science Research Institute and Dr Fatih Kurugollu from the Electronics, Communications and Information Technology Faculty at QUB. Both Condell and Kurugollu have previously carried out extensive research into security surveillance systems and automated video surveillance.