Keeping newborns SAFE

Western Australia’s Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) is enabling mothers and newborns to experience the benefits of skin-to-skin care immediately after birth while keeping babies safe from suffocation.

Known as saturation assessment for early hours after birth (SAFE), newborns wear a tiny probe around their wrist which is attached to a pulse oximeter that monitors their oxygen levels.

The unobtrusive portable device sets off an audible alarm if the baby’s oxygen levels or heart rate fall to dangerous levels.

FSH Head of Neonatology Dr Jean Du Plessis said the aim is to prevent