Something funky going on with my cut and paste.
There is no doubt Heramed is a winner. Now it just needs to win - I think these new guys are on the right path.
Many obstetric services introduced Telehealth consultations into routine antenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic for infection control reasons. Maternal COVID-19 infection, particularly in unimmunised women, is associated with poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. As a result, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology recommended reducing face-to-face visits, limiting consultations to less than 15 minutes, and substituting telehealth consultations (https://web.archive.org/web/20220114144756/https://ranzcog.edu.au/statements-guidelines/covid-19-statement/information-for-pregnant-women). Resistance to these models of care may stem from concerns over the adequacy of fetal monitoring and perceptions that clinician engagement is tied to personal interactions14. The robust surveillance of maternal and fetal biomarkers is essential for telehealth programs to be effective14. The accuracy, clinical interpretability and usability of the HBM, as well as its ability to store and transmit data may offer confidence to clinicians and women when transitioning towards a telehealth service model incorporating home-monitoring13.
The HBM device can be used in remote medicine. During the Russian-Ukraine war, the device was used by women who were unable to attend clinics due to safety reasons. The recordings were analyzed by obstetricians in Israel. This model deserves further investigation and development for scenarios where clinical care or CTG is not available. In addition, a role during labor should be investigated. Globally, up to 2 million fetuses die during labor each year15. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics recommends intermittent auscultation when there is no access to cardiotocography machines16. In resource-limited settings, the HBM monitor would allow inexperienced operators to accurately record, store, and transmit much longer and clinically useful FHR data. The HBM connects to a web-based platform allowing clinicians to review the FHR trace in real time during remote recording. Further research is required to determine whether the monitor remains accurate during contractions.
