The Lott by Golden Casket is funding new research to better identify babies at risk of stillbirth, brain damage and cerebral palsy from oxygen deprivation during late pregnancy and childbirth.

This month, we continued our support of Mater Foundation with another $500,000 donation towards its research program. 

During recent years, Australia’s official lotteries has committed over $7 million to Mater Foundation’s research to find better health outcomes for Australian mothers and babies. 

The latest contribution will support studies aimed at improving the prediction models of babies likely to experience distress during labour and life-threatening hypoxia, or lack of oxygen.

Professor Sailesh Kumar, a senior staff specialist at Mater’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit, said combining the mother’s blood test results with state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging could predict which babies were most at risk.

“If we can identify babies at risk in late pregnancy or during childbirth, clinicians and parents can hopefully make informed decisions and prevent some of these complications,” he said.

Mater Foundation Executive Director Andrew Thomas said this year’s donation from The Lott by Golden Casket bolstered the millions of dollars distributed by the Foundation to Mater Research projects each year.

“This research will use computer technology and data collected at Mater Mothers’ Hospital to develop reliable modelling capable of predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes,” he said.

“Mater is Australia’s largest maternity services provider, and mothers and babies are at the heart of what we do.

“This research has wide-ranging potential to impact thousands of families every year.”

To hear from the researchers and how the donation will help, watch the video below.