Wondering whether to get a monitor for your babies’ vital signs?
Maybe not.
A recent article in Reuter’s Health says that compared to hospital monitors two popular commercially available monitors performed poorly. The Owlet and the Baby Vida often sounded when the oxygen level was normal and sometimes missed oxygen levels that were too low. There is no evidence that using a monitor will prevent SIDS. And these monitors are not approved by the FDA. Dr Chris Bonafide of the Children’s Hosp of Philadelphia is worried about the accuracy. He says that parents may be reassured by normal oxygen levels when their babies are actually struggling and breathing too fast. On the other hand, they may have an ER bill for when the monitor goes off and nothing is actually wrong.
In conclusion, they state that the monitors “are not ready for prime time”.