EXPECTING mothers in need of extra support during their pregnancy will now benefit from a new 'world-leading' baby monitoring system which has been installed at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The Silver Star Society, part of Oxford Hospitals Charity, has funded the state-of-the-art system to help monitor the health of the baby and detect potential distress while in the womb.

The new computerised monitors (CTGs) record and analyse the patterns of the babies’ heart beats using technology entirely designed and tested in Oxford for over 40 years.

Four of the very latest CTG machines have been funded by the charity – which also hopes to fund a further two in the near future.

Ward manager, Alison Wright, said: "Some of the mums we support are carrying very small babies that need daily monitoring to make sure they aren’t distressed.

"We also work with mums who have a long history of problems, such as recurrent miscarriages, so to know that we have the best possible equipment to monitor their babies is fantastic."

In a world first, all the computerised monitors are linked so that the information gathered can be viewed across all areas of the hospital and continuously checked to maintain and improve its diagnostic accuracy.

Professor Chris Redman, emeritus professor of obstetric medicine said: "We are excited to be bringing the very best baby heart rate monitoring to every woman who needs it at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

"The equipment is patient-friendly and shows us more detailed and sensitive information about the health of the baby.

"Importantly, we are the first hospital in the world to link up these advanced computerised systems in this way, which means we will be able to actively improve its performance over the next decade.

"We envisage all maternity hospitals will work in this way in the future, but it’s great to be the first."

Level 6 at the John Radcliffe, is the home of the Silver Star Unit, which cares for about 500 women a year from across Oxfordshire and beyond, who have complications during pregnancy.

These include women who have suffered repeated miscarriages, are at risk of pre-eclampsia with high blood pressure and other complications.

Fundraising manager for Silver Star, Maggie Findlay, said: "It’s wonderful to have this new equipment and I simply can’t thank all our supporters enough.

"They have taken part in so many amazing fundraising activities and now this is the result. We are so grateful to all of them for making such a difference."

To support the Silver Star Society’s fundraising and help purchase two further monitors contact Maggie Findlay by email: silverstar.society@ouh.nhs.uk by telephone: 01865 221718 or visit www.silverstaroxford.org