Woman’s Hospital is First in the U.S. to Launch International Study to Improve Maternal Health

Woman’s Hospital is partnering with Baymatob on an innovative clinical trial focused on improving maternal health with the Oli wearable sensor. Women wear the device during labor to test its ability to detect early warning signs of postpartum hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of preventable maternal death globally. After promising pilot study results, the Australian based company began an international trial with the goal of enrolling 1000 women. Woman’s Hospital is the first site in the United States to begin the study and to date has enrolled more than 130 patients.

“Woman’s is dedicated to our mission of improving the lives of women and infants, and this study aligns with the work we do every day,” said Dr. Robert Moore, Woman’s chief medical officer. “We have a robust research program and when our team became aware of this study, we knew it could potentially provide pivotal information for our patients and physicians. We are in the data collection phase and honored by all of the patients who are participating.”

Baymatob is an AI-guided maternal and fetal diagnostics company founded by Dr. Sarah McDonald who developed the monitor after the traumatic birth of her son, Ollie, in 2013. She became determined to prevent other women from having to experience the same thing.

“Launching recruitment in the U.S. marks a significant step forward as we work to validate Oli’s ability. This milestone reflects years of dedicated effort from our engineering, clinical, regulatory, and research partners across the globe, said Tara Croft, CEO of Baymatob. “We are honored to be collaborating with the exceptional clinicians and researchers at Woman's Hospital and are deeply grateful to the patients and families who are contributing to this transformative study.”

The need for technological advancements to improve birth outcomes is critical. In current medical practice, a laboring woman’s risk for hemorrhage is measured only by a questionnaire based on a patient’s medical history. In contrast, the Oli wearable sensor is placed on the mother’s belly during labor and collects minute-by-minute information about her body and her baby. That information is fed into the device to give a doctor a real-time understanding of the mother’s risk for hemorrhage.

The Oli Study is taking place at five sites across the country: Woman’s Hospital (Louisiana), University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (Colorado), Columbia University Irving Medical Center (New York), The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Ohio), and UPMC Magee-Women’s Hospital (Pennsylvania). Once the trial is completed by the end of the year, the product including trial data will be submitted for FDA clearance.