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The generosity of Mercury Energy customers has enabled National Women's Health to achieve an important new advance in fetal medicine in New Zealand which will help save the lives of baby twins in-utero.

Mercury Energy's Star Supporters Club has funded a $142,000 laser fetoscope, meaning New Zealand women carrying babies with Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome no longer have to travel to Australia for surgery that in many cases offers the only hope of saving the babies' lives.

Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome is a serious antenatal disorder, where one baby receives too much blood through the shared placenta's vessels, while the other twin is starved of essential nutrients. Left untreated, the mortality rate is 90% for the twins, with a 15% chance of developing Cerebral Palsy for babies that do survive.

The new laser fetoscope is the first in New Zealand. The National Women's Maternal Fetal Medicine team will use it to perform keyhole surgery, where the fetoscope allows a bird's eye view of the babies and placental vessels inside the mother's womb. A laser fibre is then used to cauterise connecting vessels between the two fetuses under direct vision. It's estimated 20 – 30 New Zealand women will be treated with the laser fetoscope each year. The success rate in saving both twins is expected to be 55%, and Cerebral Palsy rates to be halved.

National Women's Clinical Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Dr Emma Parry says, “We are thrilled to be able to offer the gold standard treatment for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome here in New Zealand. Kiwi mothers will now have easy access to this life-saving procedure thanks to the Starship Foundation and Mercury Energy customers.”

Mercury Energy's General Manager James Munro, says the laser fetoscope represents thousands of contributions from Mercury Energy Star Supporters Club members who add a donation to the Starship Foundation onto their monthly energy bill.

“Our customers' donations start at as little as $1 a month, but the collective power of thousands of customers committed to the Starship cause means they can make a very real difference – in this case they can literally help save lives.”

Mercury Energy's Star Supporters Club recently celebrated its 5^th birthday and has raised more than a million dollars for Starship in that time.

For more information about Mercury Energy's Star Supporters Club see www.mercury.co.nz/starship