In the nearly 10 years since the Apple Watch was released on April 24, 2015 (a day of mourning in Switzerland), we've documented the many cases in which the watch saved a life thanks to one of its health-related features. Doctors now say that pregnant women are increasingly turning to devices like smartwatches and rings to monitor certain health metrics during their pregnancy.
One doctor who can't agree more with the importance of such monitoring is Dr. Rachel Manalo, who is not only a pediatric cardiologist (meaning she treats children with heart conditions), but is also one of the pregnant women who was smart enough to wear an Apple Watch during her pregnancy. When she was pregnant in early 2022 and had carried her child for 18 weeks, Dr. Manalo felt her heart racing on and off. When this continued to happen, she knew it wasn't a good sign.
The Apple Watch ECG indicated a problem with Dr. Manalo's heart
She was also bothered by shortness of breath and fatigue after examining a patient. She said, “I remember sitting with the patient and diagnosing them. And I felt dizzy just sitting in my chair, like I was going to faint. When she was 33 weeks along, the rapid heartbeats weren't letting up, so she used the electrocardiogram (ECG) on her Apple Watch. The ECG tracks the heart's electrical activity and heart rhythm. If you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or later (excluding Apple Watch SE models), you can have an ECG of your heart.
“I click on the ECG function on my watch. Then I put my finger on the crown and rest my arm on the table. Then a recording is made for 30 seconds.” – Dr. Rachel Manalo
Her EKG was “inconclusive,” a result the doctor said should be followed up with an EKG from a doctor. Instead of the usual 60-100 beats per minute, Dr. Manalo's heart was beating 150 times per minute for over 40 minutes. If you watch a lot of medical shows, you may be familiar with her diagnosis of ventricular tachycardia. This means the lower part of her heart wasn't working as well as the upper part and not enough oxygen was getting to her blood. Plus, her heart was already working for two.
The doctor rushed to Los Angeles, where she saw maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Tina Nguyen, who was concerned. “These types of heart problems, if left untreated, can lead to a heart attack. And then there's the fact that she was pregnant. We talked about everything. I said, 'So when did you start noticing this irregular heartbeat, you know, when did you have symptoms?' And she said, 'You know, my Apple Watch told me.'”
Dr. Nguyen is also a computer scientist and enjoys seeing her patients bring in lots of data from their smartwatches, rings and other wearable devices.
“I want all the data. I want all the patients to wear Fitbits and OURA rings and bring me all this information. Just having blood pressure and heart rate at home can really change a pregnancy from the first visit. That information is worth its weight in gold to me.” – Dr. Tina Nguyen
Another doctor issues an urgent warning for pregnant women who wear an Apple Watch
However, Dr. Nguyen cautions that Apple Watch owners should not diagnose and interpret the data themselves unless they are a doctor. “Raw data is not a diagnosis, right? It's just symptoms,” she said. “So you have symptoms. You have concerns. Yes. You can Google, you can use Web MD, but you still have that symptom. You still need the human touch, you know, and hopefully that's your doctor, to figure out what's going on.”
As it turned out, Dr. Manalo had to have a Caesarean section because her heart could no longer handle a vaginal birth. Her daughter, Samantha, weighed only 140 grams at birth. Dr. Manalo continues to take medication to manage her heart problem.
If you know someone who is pregnant, do them a huge favor by gifting them a smartwatch that can monitor the wearer's heartbeat, or a ring that can do the same. You might just save the life of the expectant mother and her child.