Rugby league club makes money for babies

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 314, 21 November 1989, Page 5

Rugby league club makes money for babies

The Waiouru Rugby League Club has shown concern for the rate of cot deaths and, through much planning and excellent club fund raising support, has purchased two MR10 respiration monitors for mothers in Waiouru who have lost a child through a cot death in previous years and are now raising a newly bom.

A cheque was presented by Captain Wayne Longley of the Waiouru Rugby League Club to the Waiouru Community Midwife Libby Tuthill outside the Army Training Group Headquarters last Friday 10 November 1989. A visit was also made to Mrs Rose Gib-

son and to 14 day old daughter Ashleigh to see first hand the monitor in full operation. Mrs Gibson had lost a child previously through cot death. The monitors are a British design and the Waiouru Rugby League Club raised over $3,000

for the MR10 Monitors. The instruments are designed to monitor the breathing of a baby and will sound an alarm if the baby stops breathing for more than a set time. The MR10 uses a sensor which when attached to the baby's abdomen, sends a signal to the monitor. Expansion of the abdomen with each breath squeezes a small amount of air through the tube into the monitor, producing a beep and a flashing light. An alarm sounds of breath-

ing is not detected for the set time. The parent programmes the monitor to a 10 second or 20 second set time. Cot deaths, also known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), account for about 12% of deaths of children under 12 months in New Zealand. Researchers suspect they may be due to an acute viral infection that affects the lungs. For more information about the MR10 monitors contact the Waiouru Community Midwife.