History

Tara's Tiny Footprints began in memory of our beautiful daughter Tara who sadly passed away on her due date after a perfect pregnancy in September 2006. A true knot in her umbilical cord was the cause of death. Wanting answers a lot of research was carried out which led to Dr. Jason Collins. Dr. Jason Collins an obstetrician based in the USA runs the Pregnancy Institute in Slidell, Louisiana a non profit organisation designed to promote the liklihood of healthier pregnancies resulting in well monitored, full term, live births. Dr. Collins is a graduate of Tulane University Medical Center.

Through his research at the Pregnancy Institute, Dr. Collins has learned that in most cases, fetal death from a umbilical cord accident does not happen suddenly but occurs over a period of days. During this time, an infants distress may manifest itself through a change in its heart rate to below 90 beats per minute. This deceleration is noticed at night, right before the pregnant woman lies down to sleep, when she is most relaxed and her heart rate has dropped. This is related to a drop in maternal blood pressure. The change in the baby's heart rate can be detected using a fetal monitor. Dr. Collins believes that watching for signs of distress during a womans most restful hours and acting quickly to address them is crucial to preventing stillbirth from UCA.

Research from the Pregnancy Institute suggests that a woman who has lost a baby to stillbirth due to an umbilical cord accident is 3-5 times more likely to suffer the same type of stillbirth in a subsequent pregnancy. Through the Pregnancy Institute, Dr. Collins has developed a unique home monitoring program to help these women overcome the odds. In co-operation with their doctors, Dr.Collins monitors the high risk mothers to be in the last months of their pregnancy.

Dr. Collins is assisting in the introduction of this monitoring program to Ireland which began in April 2009.