Mum wants daughter’s life saver to go on NHS

Aug 4 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

Greater chance of saving lives

DR Malcolm Coulthard developed the kidney dialysis machine which saved baby Millie, in his garage.

The machine allows haemodialysis (the cleaning of blood through an artificial kidney) of tiny babies with renal failure and other rare metabolic diseases.

Very low birth weight newborn babies are usually unable to be haemodialysised effectively and may not be saved.

But Dr Coulthard’s development could ensure their survival. The consultant paediatric nephrologist came up with the idea in conjunction with senior children’s kidney nurse Jean Crosier.

It is Dr Coulthard’s ultimate aim to make the machine available widely on the NHS.

He told The Journal earlier: "This machine is only being used on the tiniest, earliest babies where there is nothing else that can be done. But if we had a machine that we could use much more freely, then we would be able to deal with many more babies and have a much greater chance of saving lives."

More common

GASTROSCHISIS is a condition in which the baby develops a hole in the abdominal wall during its development, while still inside the womb.

The hole is usually to the right side of the umbilical cord and some of the bowel escapes and continues to develop outside the baby’s abdomen.

Only one in 7,000 births are affected by the condition, and there is an increased chance that the baby will be born premature and small.

The number of cases of babies born with Gastroschisis has increased dramatically in the Western world over the past decade, but the cause is not yet known.