Home -- Joey Aid

Joey - important for the world Recently, a team of researchers, physicians and scientists from Maternus Medical went to Kenya and Malawi in the sub Saharan region of Africa to study the use of a new medical device that shields blood spray during the birth of an infant. Specifically, the Joey Spray Guard protects healthcare workers from infectious blood spray that occurs when the umbilical cord is severed. The researchers discovered that this new technology is desperately needed in Africa and around the globe.

There is consistently more blood spray during the transection of the umbilical cord than any other time during the birth process. Healthcare workers face the greatest risk. The Joey Umbilical Safety System helps eliminate blood spray that might splatter into the eyes, nose or mouth of the physician, midwife or other healthcare worker attending to the mom during birth. — Richard Watson, MD

Why Africa? Because the need here is so great! Look around and you’ll see children that come into the world HIV positive. We need to stop the spread of this, and other bloodborne diseases. The Joey will make a difference in Africa and around the world. There is no other medical device that can reduce blood spray like the Joey. It’s a vital tool for doctors, nurses and midwives. — Ron Hicks, President, Maternus Medical

People in Malawi love to have children and any technology that is developed to assist in the delivery of babies is widely accepted. Joey is needed in Africa because it gives comfort and hope of delivering many babies safely. It gives the health workers a sense of security of not contracting infectious diseases due to the high HIV/AIDS rates here in Malawi. — Enock Phiri, PSI Malawi

The Joey™ Umbilical Safety System allows the attending healthcare worker to use one instrument to cut and clamp the umbilical cord in a single motion with a single hand. And, it shields infectious blood spray away from the caregivers. Its simplicity of design achieves safer and superior results.

There are more than 134 million births worldwide each year.1 Almost 40 million people around the world are living with HIV/AIDS. Three million die each year.2 570 million people live with Hepatitis. Over 1 million die annually.3 Over two billion men, women and children around the globe are infected and living with a blood borne disease.3 Clinicians are five times more likely to be sprayed with blood with the traditional method of transecting the cord than with the Joey™ Umbilical Safety System.4 90% of clinicians delivering babies who had a contaminated face shield did not perceive they had been sprayed with blood during the cord transection.4

Sources: 1 United Nations, 2004 World Population Data Sheet of the Population Reference Bureau 2 2004 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS 3 World Health Report, World Health Organization, 2002 4 The incidence of face shield contamination during cord transection using a new, shielded umbilical cord clamp and cutter device compared against the traditional use of a Hollister clamp, hemostat and scissors method. By Winters, Wendell D., PhD., MD Sci., FAAM