Doctors and technicians at the University Medical Centre (UMCM) in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht have developed a special stretcher for premature babies.
Premature babies are supposed to travel as little as possible. Mothers who go into labour prematurely are normally rushed to a special neo-natal intensive care unit. The new incubator stretcher is for cases that do not make it to hospital in time for the birth.
The stretcher is partly made of very light carbon material. The frame also has a special crumple zone in case the ambulance crashes. It comes with special equipment for newborn babies, including dripfeed and respirator. The UMCM says other hospitals in the Netherlands and abroad have expressed an interest in buying the stretcher.
(nc/tf)
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