Apple Watch ECG saves woman and her unborn baby

The long list of incidents in which an Apple Watch has saved the life of its wearer has now been extended by one entry. Apple's smartwatch recently helped save the life not only of its wearer but also of her unborn child by alerting her to a heart condition.

The Apple Watch has once again proven how life-saving its health features can be. Rachel Manalo of San Diego reports that the Apple Watch saved her and her unborn child's life. Thanks to the watch's ECG function, she realized that something was wrong with her heart.

Frequent heart palpitations as a harbinger of disaster

As reported by ABC News San Diego, Manalo was 18 weeks pregnant when she noticed her heart was racing constantly. These symptoms continued for weeks, so she eventually turned to the EKG feature on her Apple Watch to check her heart activity.

“I felt tired and short of breath. “I clicked on the ECG function on my watch, put my finger on the crown and let my arm rest on the table,” Manalo said. The result was “unclear,” but the watch showed that her heart rate had been at 150 beats per minute for over 40 minutes. The app recommended that she see a doctor.

A doctor discovered that she had ventricular tachycardia, a heart condition in which the lower part of the heart does not work properly, resulting in a lack of oxygen in the blood. “This type of heart problem can lead to a heart attack, especially during pregnancy,” the doctor explained.

The data collected by the Apple Watch helped the doctors make the correct diagnosis. Manalo followed all the doctor's recommendations and was able to give birth to her child healthy and without any difficulties.

The ECG function of the Apple Watch is available from Series 4, but the feature is not available on the Apple Watch SE.

—–
Don’t want to miss any more news? Then follow us on Þjórsárdalur or become a fan on Facebook. You can of course download our additional iPhone and iPad app with push notifications here for free.