For a mother, especially in an advanced state of pregnancy, what worries her the most is her baby’s movement. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it is not. So, how does she know if the baby is okay?
When women come with complaints of no foetal movement doctors suspect two things: it is sleeping or is suffering from hypoxia. To check the status of the foetus, doctors then widely use scan or the vibro-acoustic stimulator. But radiologist M.F. Davis, based in the United Arab Emirates, feels that there should be a better, non-invasive method that does not startle a sleeping baby into wakefulness.
“As an amateur musician I [have often] wondered whether we could use non-invasive stimulus… if music could be played directly to the unborn. In neonatal, intensive care units, music is played to soothe agitated infants. We know from studies that low-birth-weight babies that are comforted by their mother’s voice gain weight. I wanted a diagnostic tool and Dr. Maruthy came up with one,” says Dr. Davis, who conceptualised the diagnostic apparatus.
K.N. Maruthy, a physiologist at the Narayana Medical College in Nellore, was an electronics engineer by training who later became a medical practitioner. He is also an amateur musician.
The doctors have relied on studies linking the benefits of music in relation to pregnancy and childbirth. Across the world, researchers have used music on adults for its therapeutic effect. When music was used at the time of childbirth it reduced a mother’s anxiety about her unborn child.
“There are many studies about the effect of music on the adult mind but there is little understanding about how a foetus reacts to music. Propelled by Dr. Davis’ idea, Dr. Maruthy developed an apparatus, which is designed to store not only music but also the mother’s voice. The concept works on the understanding that as soon as the foetus’ aural faculty begins developing, the first sound it hears is its mother's voice. According to doctors the foetus can hear low frequency sounds and its mother’s voice reaches it long before it can comprehend external voices and sounds. The equipment is customised for each baby. The researchers have also added recorded sounds of rain and low frequency music.
The patented design is now being used for a pilot study at the Narayana Medical College Hospital on pregnant women to study foetal response.
“So far we have tested the equipment on 30 mothers,” says Dr. Maruthy.
When the doctors complete the experiment on 100 women they expect to have a pattern. “This tool will help to identify abnormal conditions in the foetus. When a mother complains that the baby is not moving, it is a challenge to us and all we can do is go for a scan. Instead, we could use this tool if we could standardise the response of the babies,” he adds.
“We have chosen to perform the study in the 27th week of pregnancy. Already, seven mothers, despite having a low amniotic fluid level, could appreciate the movement of their babies, which is a good sign. In a few weeks we are planning to expand the study to include Chennai. Dr. S. Suresh has agreed to conduct the test in his centre, MediScan,” he adds.
Dr. Suresh, director of MediScan, a centre for ultrasound, foetal care and research, which co-hosted a workshop to showcase the apparatus in Chennai, believes the new tool would offer additional inputs about the health of a foetus.
sujatha.r@thehindu.co.in
