Developing a range of foetal monitoring equipments was my initial brief. This led to two products, for two different usage scenarios. Foetal monitoring checks and monitors the well being of the developing foetus by measuring its heart rate and other heart activities in pregnancy.
The first product, GE Lullaby, is a product which can be used by all pregnant women themselves to monitor the well-being of the developing foetus. The product works at two levels – at the first level for high-risk pregnancies which need constant monitoring and at the second level facilitating a connection/bond between the mother and the child.
The second product, GE Connect, is also a foetal monitoring device and its usage scenarios include small private hospitals, maternity clinics, government hospitals and OPDs (Out Patient Departments) of large hospitals. The main advantage of the product lies in its compactness and low cost. It records monitoring data, and prints and stores it for future reference. The compactness of the product also ensures its safety in carrying it to the homes of high-risk patients for whom it is unadvisable to travel; no such product existed for this user group earlier. Some of the other key features include Bluetooth connectivity, LCD for data display and space at the base of the product to store the various probes.
The project gave me completely new insights into the world of pregnant women, their joys and worries, their apprehensions and their aspirations from the Healthcare System in India that caters to their needs. It sensitised me to one of the most amazing of God’s wonders i.e. child birth. Apart from this, the project helped me understand how the whole system works - starting with dais in villages to big private hospitals in cities.
