Newcastle mother uses 'climate-friendly' gas machine in labour

A mother is said to have been the first in the UK to use a so-called "climate-friendly" gas machine during labour.

Kaja Gersinska, 33, gave birth at the Newcastle Birthing Centre on Thursday using Entonox, a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, for pain relief.

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said nitrous oxide was a powerful greenhouse gas which would normally get into the atmosphere after being exhaled.

The new machine was used to stop it escaping into the environment.

During the birth of her 6lb 6oz (2.9kg) daughter Rosie, Ms Gersinska breathed into something called a Mobile Destruction Unit (MDU), which is designed to collect and destroy any nitrous oxide.

"I didn't expect this, I just came to have my baby... It's nice to make a little bit of history," said Ms Gersinska, who now has two children with her partner Craig.

The technology developed by Medclair is already used in Sweden and the trust said this was the first time it had been used in the UK.

The trust's use of nitrous oxide and Entonox totalled almost 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2020-21, which was 5% of its controllable emissions.

By Sharon Barbour, BBC Look North health correspondent

For more than 100 years women have used Entonox, also known as gas and air (and sometimes known as laughing gas) during labour.

It's a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, but nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas.

Kaja was the first woman in the country to inhale gas and air through the new Mobile Destruction Unit.

When she breathed it out, the machine captured the nitrous oxide and cracked it into nitrogen and oxygen which are harmless.

Up to eight million litres of gas and air is used each year alone at the Royal Victoria Infirmary's Birthing Centre.

But the gas is also used in emergency departments and by paramedics, and it's hoped the birth of Rosie will mark the start of a journey that could end up with the more climate-friendly gas being used across the NHS.

Chris Allen, sustainable anaesthesia fellow at the trust, said: "This is a really exciting day for the whole team.

"Rolling this technology out across our maternity unit can help us to continue to support women to use gas and air during labour, whilst making it as environmentally friendly as possible."

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.