Heart Set On Innovation

Windmill Health’s resuscitation device is tackling birth asphyxia

- Himanshu Kakkar

Every year, over 8 lakh babies die of asphyxia. Of that, 2 lakh are in India alone. Birth asphyxia occurs when a baby doesn’t receive enough oxygen before, during or just after birth. Sadly, it’s more common that one may think. Five out of 100 babies require resuscitation or artificial/device- aided breathing, without which they can either fall prey to disabilities or death. “It’s the third largest cause of newborn deaths, despite the fact that many of them can be avoided,” says Avijit Bansal, co-founder and CEO, Windmill Health.

It’s not like there aren’t enough solutions. The conventional bag mask costs less than ₹5,000. But visiting public health centres across India, Bansal found that there was a massive gap. “What shocked us was that there was a serious skill barrier to resuscitation. Many studies show that even skilled persons are not able to perform it properly.”

The conventional bag mask is a simple device — a rubber bag with a nose mask attached at one end. The mask is to be placed over the patient’s nose and mouth and pressed to create a seal. Then, the rubber bag is to be pressed to generate air. But herein lies the predicament. “It’s very hard to generate a seal and the right amount of pressure together, especially since one can’t use the stethoscope as both the hands are busy,” says Bansal. That’s what Windmill Health is trying to solve with NeoBreathe.

PEDALLING ALONG

It was probably an incident from his childhood that led Bansal into resuscitation in the first place. When you are 12, and see a kid of your age collapse suddenly, it is bound to leave an impression. “I saw my parents bring him back to life,” he says.