Special arrivals will help Bradford sonographers spot cardiac defects before birth

A Bradford hospital has welcomed two special arrivals at its maternity unit.

Two Tiny Tickers 'situs' teaching dolls were donated by Head of Midwifery at Bradford Royal Infirmary Sara Hollins and her mum Linda Atkins.

The dolls were presented to the team of sonographers at BRI, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. They work by helping sonographers assess the hearts of the babies they scan at 20 weeks' gestation – the dolls are the same size of a baby at this stage in pregnancy.

The doll is placed over the mother's abdomen in the same position as the baby is lying helping the sonographer to work out the baby's right and left side.

They are dressed in a t-shirt designed with an anatomical diagram of the heart, which helps the sonographer see which way the heart should be pointing.

The heart diagram also has lines through it and these demonstrate where the scan probe should be over the heart to obtain all the views required by the sonographer in accordance with the fetal anomaly screening programme.

This isn't the first time the hospital has linked with the Tiny Tickers charity, which aims to improve the early detection and care of babies with serious heart conditions. Linda is a staunch fundraiser for the charity and as a result, last year the maternity unit received three pulse oximetry machines.