Date:01/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/01/stories/2006030104361600.htm

International

Anti-shock suit could save lives

Ian Sample

London: Medical trials of an ``anti-shock suit'' have found it could save the lives of women who are at risk of dying from blood loss during childbirth. The garment, which resembles the bottom half of a wetsuit, forces blood from the legs towards the vital organs, preventing them from being damaged if a woman has a haemorrhage.

Each year, some 529,000 women die in childbirth, 99 per cent of them in developing countries.

In Egypt, where the trial was conducted, nearly two-thirds of deaths in childbirth are attributed to haemorrhages. The trial, involving 364 women, found that the ``non-pneumatic anti-shock garment'' (NASG) cut blood loss by 50 per cent.

The research teambelieves the trial saved the lives of a number of patients.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006