United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Device Allows Doctors to Practice Deliveries

I just received this article from a friend.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/healt ... b897019a20

Kath

THAT is VERY VERY cool! I wish someone had thought of this a few years earlier! What a great way to train doctors, they can feel how much pressure to apply AND how much is too much. I think every up and coming OB needs to practice on this. This is really amzing to me.

This is an important step towards prevention.
Kath

Another article summarizing the study:

Optimal shoulder dystocia delivery method proposed
Source: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2005; Not yet available online

US researchers may have identified the optimal method for delivering pregnancies complicated by shoulder dystocia.


Using a birthing simulator and a force-sensing glove, US researchers have identified what may be the least forceful way to manage cases of shoulder dystocia.

The team, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, performed 30 mock deliveries using a birthing device designed to simulate this delivery problem. The device is composed of several parts, including a maternal model, a fetal model, a force-sensing glove, and a remote computer.

Ten deliveries were performed by each of three different maneuvers commonly employed to overcome shoulder dystocia, and the force exerted by the doctor's hand was measured in each case.

Turning the baby so its spine faces the mother's belly - a technique known as anterior Rubin's maneuver - required the application of less force to the baby's head (6.5 pounds) than either turning the baby so its spine faces the mother's spine (8.5 pounds) or moving the mother's legs backwards (16 pounds).

The brachial plexus nerves also suffered the least strain with the anterior Rubin's maneuver, with a stretch of 2.9 mm, compared with 6.9 mm and 7.3 mm, respectively, for the other two methods.

Nevertheless, lead researcher Dr. Edith Gurewitsch says further study is needed before one procedure can be definitively recommended over another.

Posted: 5 January 2005