An appliance for use in supporting a woman during the first stage of labour
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Solution Overview
Problem
Women in the active phase of the first stage of labor face physical difficulties due to pain and tiredness, making it challenging to maintain an upright position, which hinders the natural labor process and fetal descent through the pelvic bones.
Innovation Solution
A supportive appliance with a horizontal seat, retractable footrests, and a ledge at shoulder height, allowing for a comfortable, upright position that reduces the angle of pelvic inclination, enabling the fetus to flex and descend more easily, featuring swiveling castor wheels for mobility and integrated design for stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a woman remains upright during active phase labour, then fetal descent through pelvic bones is facilitated, but physical exhaustion and pain make it difficult to maintain this position
Solution Approach 1:
The appliance replicates the beneficial effects of ideal birth positions (squatting, kneeling, hands-and-knees) by providing a supported sitting position that maintains pelvic inclination without requiring the woman to physically sustain those positions. The ledge and footrests create a mechanical copy of the support system that would otherwise be needed to maintain upright posture during labour.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliance is designed as a simple, lightweight structure that can be easily deployed and repositioned during labour. The use of basic materials like plastic or metal tubing with simple components (ledge, footrests, seat) creates an affordable, single-use solution that doesn't require complex mechanisms or expensive materials.
2Productivity
If midwives encourage women to mobilize and remain upright during active phase, then labour progress is improved, but the physical demands become unsustainable for exhausted women
Solution Approach 1:
The appliance provides mechanical support that counteracts the force of gravity and the woman's body weight, eliminating the need for her to generate the physical strength to maintain upright positioning. The ledge and footrests act as counterbalancing elements that distribute her weight and provide stability without requiring muscular effort.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliance is designed to be easily adjusted and positioned by the woman herself or with minimal assistance. The simple structure allows her to modify her position, adjust the footrests, and reposition the ledge independently, reducing the need for continuous midwife intervention and physical assistance during labour.
3Area of stationary object
If traditional birthing positions are used, then external support is minimized, but pelvic internal diameters are reduced compared to upright positions
Solution Approach 1:
The appliance transitions the woman from a horizontal or semi-recumbent position to an upright vertical position, changing the dimensional orientation of her body. This vertical alignment utilizes gravity and pelvic anatomy to maximize the internal diameters of the pelvis, creating more space for fetal descent without requiring the woman to physically sustain complex positioning.
Data Source
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AI summary
An appliance for use in supporting a woman during the first stage of labour including: a seat portion; a generally horizontal ledge portion is located at a height which is higher than the seat portion and extends across the width of the seat portion; a footrest is located at either side of the ledge portion; and wherein the footrests are located beneath the ledge portion.