Childbirth safety garment

Abstract

A childbirth safety garment to be worn by a physician, midwife, or other delivery aid in order to create a sling-like structure that extends between a birthing mother and that delivery aid, during the childbirth, and that functions as a safety support to, potentially, catch an infant and prevent it from falling to the floor.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Although the majority of childbirths unfold without any serious complications, there always exists the potential for a variety of things to go wrong and have serious repercussions for the birthing mother and / or the infant at various stages of that life-giving event. For example, during vaginal deliveries, forceps and vacuum extractions of the infant can inflict serious birth trauma upon the infant. Perinatal asphyxia is another common risk factor for infants during childbirth. Another less commonly considered risk factor is the possibility of the infant inadvertently falling to the floor after being expelled from the mother's vagina.

[0002] Typically, during the childbirth event, the birthing mother will be lying on a bed or gurney with her vagina positioned near its end and, sometimes, with her legs held spread apart by stirrups. A physician, midwife, or other healthcare professional positions himself or herself facing the mother and is tasked with the responsibility of gently receiving the expelling baby. Unfortunately, though, on rare occasions, infants have been accidentally dropped to the floor and sustained serious and even fatal injuries.

[0003] Consequently, the present inventor recognizes a need for having a “safety net,” so to speak, in the newborn delivery environment to greatly eliminate the possibility of a baby tragically falling to the floor. The childbirth safety support garment of the present invention fulfils that need.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide something capable of preventing a newborn infant from falling to the floor and being seriously injured, during the childbirth process, and it is a further object that that something be a garment that is to be worn by the delivery aid, but that does not obstruct or, in any way, negatively impact that person's typical physical movements during the process.

[0005] In one aspect of the invention, the childbirth safety support garment is to be worn over the upper body of the delivery aid and features a “front tail”-a sheet of garment fabric that forms a sling if its distal end (i.e., its lower end when freely hanging) is lifted, extended away from the wearer and attached to a foreign object such that the sheet is suspended horizontally.

[0006] It is an object of the invention to provide safety garment that is variable and versatile so that it can be worn before, during, and after the childbirth event, by the delivery aid, without its wearer feeling compelled to remove the garment due to the unsuitability of the presence of the front tail outside of the short moment within which the infant moves from the delivering mother's body to a position securely within the arms of the delivering aid.

[0007] In another aspect of the invention, the front tail can be a removable attachment to the garment that one can elect to wear during only that short moment when a safety sling is useful. And in another aspect, the distal (lower) end of the front tail can feature laterally spaced holes or sockets and / or a laterally extending lip-either one of which serves as mechanism for securing the front tail to bed stirrups, over bedposts, or underneath the birthing mother's body or something else in order that the tail be held in a support position capable of catching and suspending the body of the infant above the floor if the infant happens to fall onto it.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of childbirth safety support garment in accordance with the present invention, the garment featuring an integral front tail having strings for tying its distal end to foreign supports; and

[0009] FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the same.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The present invention generally relates to safety garments, and it is specifically directed to a garment configured to be worn by a childbirth delivery aid (i.e., someone who positions themselves adjacent a birthing mother to receive the newborn infant upon it exiting the vagina) for the purpose of providing a safety sling capable of catching the infant and preventing it from falling to the floor if the aid fails to gain a secure hold of the infant. In the descriptions that follow, the invention will be described in its preferred forms as either; (a) a unitary garment having a body mounting portion 10 and an integral front tail portion 20; or (b) a two-piece garment in which the tail portion 20 is merely attachable to the body mounting portion 10. In either case, it is anticipated that the body mounting portion 10 will cover some or all of the wearer's torso by way of anywhere from a sleeveless apron configuration (as shown in accompanying FIGS. 1 & 2) to a long-sleeved shirt configuration. It is also anticipated that the one-piece version will, often, be intended to be a disposable, single use item, whereas the two-piece version might be more durable and machine washable. However, that is not necessarily so in either case.

[0011] Nevertheless, in a one-piece, integral front tail configuration of the type shown, the front tail 20 is, simply an elongated frontal portion of the garment-elongated such that its distal end 28 extends far beyond the lower rim of the body portion 10 that is not situated along its front face. Conversely, in a two-piece configuration (not shown), the front tail 20 is an elongated sheet of fabric that secures to the front of the body mounting portion 10 by of some form of connecting element 24 disposed near the proximal end 22 of the front tail 20. The present inventor envisions any of a variety of fastening mechanisms being employed to secure attachment of this front tail 20 to the body portion 10, so long as it can reliably maintain engagement when, say, twenty pounds of disengaging force is applied (i.e., and extremely large baby is being supported by the front tail when its distal end 28 is secured to a suspension support(s) (e.g., bed stirrups, bedposts, or sandwiched between birthing mother and bed).

[0012] In any case, near the distal end 28 of the front tail 20 resides an engaging mechanism(s) 26 for securing that end 28 over or to a support structure so that the tail 20 will be horizontally suspended some feet above the ground when the garment is being worn by a person standing some distance from that suspension support. In one embodiment, such engaging element could be a pair of holes or sockets (formed in the fabric construction) for placing over a pair of spaced posts. In another embodiment, as shown, the engaging elements are tying strings 26 that are to be tied to support posts.

[0013] Finally, either in addition to or in lieu of the aforementioned types of engaging elements, the distal end 28 of the tail 20 could feature a soft ridge or lip 18 that functions as a stopper when a sandwiching force is applied to the tail 20 just proximal that distal end 28. For example, the distal end 28 of the front tail could be placed underneath the birthing mother's body so that she provides the suspension support for the front tail 20. In that case, the lip 18 is to prevent the tail 20 from sliding out from under her and dislodging if a load, in the form of an infant's body, is applied to the suspended tail 20.

[0014] Of course, such a lip 18 should be sizable enough to inhibit disengagement, but without greatly discomforting the mother. One anticipates that it could be in the form of a tubular durable insert, fabricated of foam or a soft rubber or plastic, that inserts into a pocket formed at the tail's distal end 28.

[0015] Aspects of various embodiments of the present invention that are not recited above or claimed below may be noted from observing the illustrations included herein.

Claims

1. A childbirth safety garment comprising:a body mounting portion to be placed onto a wearer's body and that has a front tail which drapes over the front of the wearer's body when the safety garment freely hangs, wherein the distal area of the front tail is defined as an area of the front tail furthest from the wearer's body when the front tail is suspended horizontally; andwherein the safety garment is configured to form a support sling for supporting an infant's body and to extend between the wearer's body and a suspension support when the distal area of the front tail is engaged to the suspension support.

2. The childbirth safety garment of claim 1, wherein the distal area of said front tail has at least one engaging element for engaging said front tail to a suspension support.

3. The childbirth safety garment of claim 2, wherein said at least one engaging element is a socket for placing over a suspension support.

4. The childbirth safety garment of claim 2, wherein said at least one engaging element is a string or strap for securing onto a suspension support.

5. The childbirth safety garment of claim 1, wherein said front tail has a lip formed at its distal end, this lip for preventing displacement of said front tail from between objects that it may be sandwiched.

6. The childbirth safety garment of claim 5, wherein said lip is formed by a pocket and a durable insert disposed therewithin.

7. The childbirth safety garment of claim 6, wherein said durable insert is fabricated of at least one of: foam, rubber, and plastic.

8. The childbirth safety garment of claim 1, wherein said body mounting portion is configured to fit over a wearer's arms.

9. The childbirth safety garment of claim 1, wherein said safety garment is disposable.

10. A childbirth safety garment comprising:a body mounting portion to be placed onto a wearer's body;a front tail that attaches to the body mounting portion, wherein the front tail has a proximal end that attaches to the body mounting portion and an opposing distal end; andwherein the attached front tail is configured to form a support sling for supporting an infant's body and to extend between the body mounting portion and a suspension support when a distal area of the front tail is engaged to the suspension support.

11. The childbirth safety garment of claim 10, wherein the front tail has a connecting element for connecting said front tail to said body mounting portion and at least one engaging element for engaging said front tail to a suspension support.

12. The childbirth safety garment of claim 11, wherein said at least one engaging element is a socket for placing over a suspension support.

13. The childbirth safety garment of claim 11, wherein said at least one engaging element is a string or strap for securing onto a suspension support.

14. The childbirth safety garment of claim 10, wherein said front tail has a lip formed at its distal end, this lip for preventing displacement of said front tail from between objects that it may be sandwiched.

15. The childbirth safety garment of claim 14, wherein said lip is formed by a pocket and a durable insert disposed therewithin.

16. The childbirth safety garment of claim 15, wherein said durable insert is fabricated of at least one of: foam, rubber, and plastic.

17. The childbirth safety garment of claim 10, wherein said body mounting portion is configured to fit over a wearer's arms.

18. The childbirth safety garment of claim 10, wherein said safety garment is disposable.

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