A re-usable, lightweight suit can save the lives of thousands of women in poor countries who die each year during childbirth by restoring blood flow to vital organs of theirs in a state of shock due to haemorrhages, researchers said.
In a study conducted on 364 women in Egypt, the non-pneumatic, anti-shock garment (NASG) reduced death and severe illness by 69 percent.
NASG can be worn by a layperson with no medical training, said Suellen Miller, maternal health expert at University of California, who had undertaken the study.
Of the 500,000 women who die during childbirth, about 30 per cent of them die due to haemorrhages.
During a haemorrhage, blood accumulates in legs and abdomen cutting off oxygen to brain, heart and lungs.
The suit consists of five segments with Velcro, which pushes blood from lower body parts back to vital organs.
Its function is to keep a woman alive till she can be hospitalized.
Miller informed that as soon as the suit is worn the affected women starts to regain consciousness and their vital signs return to normal and can be kept alive for up to two days till blood transfusion takes place, Miller said.
Scientists plan to test the suit in larger studies.
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