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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing birthing pools restrict positional choices for mothers, cause discomfort due to hard floors, pose risks for assistants during prolonged procedures, and are difficult to clean, leading to potential injuries and bacterial infections.
Innovation Solution
A birthing pool system with a tub supported by a stand that elevates the floor, allowing for easier access and reduced bending for assistants, combined with a drainage system that facilitates faster drainage and easier cleaning, and includes features like bracing means and orientation points for enhanced user positioning and hygiene.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tub rim is positioned at standard height (50-55 cm above support surface), then assistants can easily step over to access the tub, but assistants experience discomfort and increased risk of injury during prolonged procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a movable platform that can be positioned at different heights alongside the tub, creating an additional dimensional solution. Assistants use the platform to reach the mother-to-be without bending or stretching, eliminating the harmful reaching motion while maintaining easy access. The platform's height can be adjusted to match the tub rim level, providing ergonomic support at the optimal working height.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable platform serves as an intermediary between the assistant and the mother-to-be in the tub. Instead of assistants directly reaching into the tub from ground level, the platform mediates the interaction by providing an elevated standing surface, reducing strain and injury risk while facilitating assistance.
2Ease of manufacture
If the tub is elevated on a stand with floor spaced from ground, then drainage and cleaning are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The movable platform is designed to serve multiple functions: it provides ergonomic support for assistants during procedures, facilitates drainage by enabling access to the tub bottom and outlet, and aids in cleaning operations. This multi-functionality justifies the additional structural element, as one component addresses multiple previously separate needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to be positioned as needed and easily removed for drainage or cleaning operations. This dynamic design provides the benefits of elevated positioning while maintaining simplicity and flexibility, avoiding permanent complex structures.
3Ease of operation
If assistants continually reach into and over the tub during prolonged procedures, then they can provide necessary assistance, but repetitive strain injury risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The movable platform creates an equipotential working surface at the same height as the tub rim, eliminating the need for assistants to bend down or reach upward. By positioning the platform at the optimal working height, assistants can perform procedures without awkward postures or repetitive strain-inducing motions, maintaining ease of assistance while preventing injury.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for water birthing in which an occupant of the tub is raised. The apparatus may include a tub, a stand and a connector, the tub having a floor with an outlet therethrough and a peripheral side wall, the stand being configured to support the tub, in use, at or adjacent a terminal edge or lip of the peripheral side wall such that the floor of the tub is spaced from the ground upon which the stand rests. The connector may be fluidly connected or connectable to the outlet, removably and fluidly connected or connectable to a drainage apparatus, and accessible during use of the water birthing apparatus. Assistants of an occupant of the tub have reduced distances to bend and/or reach when assisting (e.g. lifting or otherwise moving) the occupant.