Study Finds K2 Infant® Software Halves Poor Birth Outcomes At Australia’S Largest Maternity Service

04 August, 2021, Plymouth, UK: K2 Medical Systems (K2), a UK-based company providing specialised maternity software solutions and business unit of Harris, welcomes the publication of a paper detailing a recent study undertaken at Mater Mothers’ hospital Brisbane, Australia using the K2 INFANT-Guardian® (INFANT) system. (https://www.k2ms.com/blog/2020/mater-mothers-infant-paper.aspx)

The Mater Mothers’ hospital is Australia’s largest maternity service delivering over 12,000 babies per annum.

In May 2018, the Mater Mothers’ hospital upgraded their K2 Guardian intrapartum fetal monitoring platform to the INFANT system. Their study aimed to report perinatal outcomes before and after the introduction of INFANT decision support software for cardiotocograph use in labour. This study was designed to measure the impact of using INFANT on poor birth outcomes.

The results have shown that the introduction of K2’s INFANT software almost halved poorest birth outcomes (0.57% vs. 1.00%; OR 0.57, 95%CI 0.37-0.88; P = 0.01) and reduced NICU admission > 48hours by a factor of 6 times (0.05% vs. 0.30%; OR 0.18, 95%CI 0.05-0.60; P = 0.002).

The authors concluded:

“The results of our study reflect real-world outcomes of the INFANT-Guardian® software system – we showed a significant reduction in the primary composite outcome, which was driven mainly by a reduction in NICU admission rates. We postulate that the consistent and constant vigilance provided by INFANT likely helped reduce the chances of a hypoxic FHR pattern being missed.”

The INFANT (INtelligent Fetal AssessmeNT) system is real time decision support software to interpret and alert clinicians to patterns of fetal heart rate (FHR) of concern during labour. INFANT is integrated within the Guardian? electronic CTG system (INFANT-Guardian®) also developed by K2. This software analyses the FHR pattern (baseline, variability, accelerations, characteristics of decelerations: type and timing, depth, duration, and area) as well as the contraction frequency, and raises concerns of fetal wellbeing to caregivers throughout the hospital and remotely.