Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Academic Collaborators Awarded Up To $39.3 Million to Improve Identification of Low Fetal Oxygen and Guide Interventions During Labor

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health award supports the development of a wearable, fetal monitoring system designed to fundamentally improve the detection and management of fetal hypoxia during labor 

PHILADELPHIA, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Making Obstetrics Care Smart (MOCS) program has awarded Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), as part of a 9-institution team led by Carnegie Mellon University, a four-year award of up to $39.3 million to speed development of data-driven tools that identify the root cause of low fetal oxygen, improve detection accuracy and guide interventions during labor.

The United States spends more on maternity care than other wealthy nations, yet mothers and infants face higher rates of serious complications and death. One major reason is that hospitals often rely on the decades-old electronic fetal heart rate monitor, which can be hard to interpret and does not consistently provide clear information about fetal hypoxia, when the fetus is not getting sufficient oxygen, or why hypoxia is happening.

When such information is unclear, clinicians must make high-stakes decisions with limited information, which can contribute to unnecessary C-sections and delayed recognition of true distress. Researchers say that what's missing – and urgently needed – is reliable, real-time technology that allows the care team to see how a baby is tolerating labor, so clinicians can separate true distress from false alarms and act appropriately.

"During labor, oxygen levels can fall quickly for many reasons, and when that drop isn't detected and treated in time, the consequences can be devastating and lifelong," said Tiffany Ko, PhD, a CHOP research scientist in the Resuscitation Science Center and Co-Principal Investigator of CHOP's Biomedical Optical Devices to Monitor Cerebral Health Frontier Program, who is also leading CHOP's team on this project. "We're building tools that give care teams clearer, real-time insight so they can intervene sooner, more precisely, and protect babies before harm occurs."

The project is led by Jana Kainerstorfer, PhD at Carnegie Mellon University with co-leadership by Ko and significant contributions from the CHOP team. The research aims to move beyond current approaches and toward a comprehensive view of what is happening during labor. The team will develop a wearable, noninvasive monitoring approach that uses multiple safe, wireless sensors placed on the mother to capture signals that relate more directly to oxygen delivery and how a baby is responding. 

The researchers will also conduct carefully supervised clinical studies that collect the new sensor data alongside routine information already captured in electronic medical records. That combined data will be used to train and test AI and machine-learning models that can detect when a baby is truly at risk of hypoxia. Beyond detecting risk, the models will also be designed to help care teams understand what may be causing a concern and what to do about it, so clinicians can respond quickly and families can feel supported every step of the way.

"We're building the system to pinpoint why a baby may be struggling – not just flag that something looks off," said Jennifer Lynch, MD, PhD, an attending pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and Director of CHOP's Lynch Lab for Novel Biomedical Optics, who will work closely with Ko. "The goal is for clinicians to act earlier with the right intervention."

Wesley Baker, PhD, Juliana Sanchez Gebb, MD, Tom Reynolds, MFA, MBA, Luiz Silva, PhD, Shelly Soni, MD and Jennifer Walter, MD, PhD, MS are also part of CHOP's research team.

The team aims to create a delivery room-ready system that is straightforward to place, reliable over hours of labor, and paired with a simple display clinicians can act on, grounded in ethical principles of research and implementation. 

"Our end-goal is regulatory approval of a real-time system that gives care teams confident, actionable guidance," said Kainerstorfer. "We want to help them intervene earlier and more precisely when danger is real and avoid unnecessary emergency decisions when it isn't."

About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia:
A non-profit, charitable organization, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, the hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. The institution has a well-established history of providing advanced pediatric care close to home through its CHOP Care Network, which includes more than 50 primary care practices, specialty care and surgical centers, urgent care centers, and community hospital alliances throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. CHOP also operates the Middleman Family Pavilion and its dedicated pediatric emergency department in King of Prussia, the Behavioral Health and Crisis Center (including a 24/7 Crisis Response Center) and the Center for Advanced Behavioral Healthcare, a mental health outpatient facility. Its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought Children's Hospital of Philadelphia recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit https://www.chop.edu.

Contact: Natalie Solimeo
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
267-426-6246
[email protected] 

SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia