Viagra could help improve the survival and health of unborn babies. The world's first clinical trial in Australia and New Zealand are underway to test if the male virility drug can save the lives of the unborn.

Sildenafil or popularly known as Viagra, is a drug taken by males to enhance sexual function by increasing the flow of blood to the pelvis.

New Zealand researchers from Gravida, a government-funded National Centre for Growth and Development, believe Viagra holds the key to help unborn babies survive in the wombs of their mothers and improve their overall health.

Lead researcher for Gravida's clinical trrials Dr. Katie Groom, says there is no treatment for mothers who experience this kind of condition.

According to Dr. Groom, babies who are delivered 28 to 30 weeks have a 70-75 per cent chance of developing a handicap, or worse, declared as still birth. Babies born this way are so small because they are underdeveloped.

If Viagra passes clinical trials, the drug could help these babies grow and stay in the mother's womb for a longer period until they are due to come out.

Dr. Groom says it is always a challenge to make a diagnosis and tell mothers with underdeveloped babies that doctors cannot do anything to help them. Doctors can only monitor the mother and baby and order a delivery if they think the baby will have a higher chance of survival.

Doctors will also have to assess the balance and the risks between leaving the baby inside the womb, thereby increasing the chances of still birth, or delivering the baby hoping it will survive.

Promising results

The Viagra clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand will investigate whether the drug can increase the growth of the fetus. Researchers will verify if fetal growth will improve if Viagra will increase the supply of nutrients across the placenta.

Since Viagra increases the blood supply of the male pelvis, researchers conclude Viagra can also increase the blood supply of the placenta. They have examined samples taken from the uterus and placenta from women who've experienced having underdeveloped babies.

In animal studies, researchers have seen Viagra improve growth of animal babies.

Clinical trials for testing Viagra will start later this year in Australia and New Zealand. Researchers will monitor 122 pregnant women carrying low-growth babies. The women will be given Viagra during their pregnancy.