Darn it, I still like my modern birthing beds post from ages ago. It's a mind-boggling idea. People made these large expensive Transformer-like contraptions just to facilitate laying women flat on their back to push babies out? And to defacilitate any kind of human contact with the mother, except by the doctor? Next they'll invent vacuum pumps to just pull babies out without any human touch whatsoever, like we're milking cows at a dairy plant. Except they already kind of do.
You could put the AVE turbo birthing beds driven by maternity commandos up against a giant robotic KOKEN LM-064 Full Body Pregnancy Simulator (with storage case) in some kind of postapocalyptic American obstetric horror film.
This bumping of a thread, of sorts, was brought to you by the Livejournal user I ran across who made the icon above. Thanks!
EDIT:
Sweet. Nuff said. Courtesy of VBAC Lady's graphic designer friend.
Wow, that's a doozie, eh? I must blog about it and soon.
ReplyDeletei must say as i scrolled through that last link.. i did enjoy seeing that they had a "freestyle delivery" section. =)) lol
ReplyDeletemy husband was excellent support during both our home births. i can't imagine what he'd do in a hospital - but if we had to give birth there, having had two "freestyle birthings" (one on our bed and one on a birth stool) i'm sure we'd pretty much push everybody else aside. And not really giving a damn what position they wanted me in.
that bed is seriously scary.
Bed? Looks nothing like a bed. More like some sort of electric chair! Really draws your attention to what is the main focus huh, the "operative field" huh. Oh yeah, there is a head of a soon-to-be mom up there somewhere... Sad.
ReplyDeletehttp://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs255.snc1/10217_308548910423_652490423_9195857_3951337_n.jpg
ReplyDeleteI hope that link comes out because it's pretty funny. I posted your blog on my facebook page, and my graphics wizard friend could not resist the image of "You could put the AVE turbo birthing beds driven by maternity commandos up against a giant robotic KOKEN LM-064 Full Body Pregnancy Simulator (with storage case) in some kind of postapocalyptic American obstetric horror film."
mommymichael - yeah, I liked the "freestyle delivery option!" too, but couldn't figure out how to put that in my post AND mention the storage case! :) Most of those hospital beds have some kind of bar option for you to squat, but I don't know - squating five feet up in the air seems weird, and I'm pretty sure you aren't even allowed to use those if you're being monitored (and everybody is), and probably never allowed to do it for the actual delivery. :P But yeah, if we had to go to a hospital for our next birth, I'll try to figure out how to make it clear that no one is going to tell us what position to get into.
ReplyDeleteNHMomma - it's crazy. The focus really is on making it easier for the doc to manage the baby out of somebody's perineum, with little regard to the identity of the woman or the position she's in or whether her labor is made easier or harder by the positioning. :P I also thought it was interesting that they boast the bed was designed by an architect-designer.
VBAC Lady - that pic is awesome. I was trying to do something like that but gave up. Hope you don't mind if I throw it onto the post!
ReplyDelete"I'll try to figure out how to make it clear that no one is going to tell us what position to get into."
ReplyDeleteAnd what if your baby's heart rate is in the 60's? Are you still going to run the show on your own? Would you listen to your midwife if she asked you to please get on your hands and knees (the recovery position for laboring women).
The big point is that we work together to deliver the baby safely. The point is not to make it easier on the Doc or nurse as evidenced by my broken back. Had I not given a sh1t about a safe vaginal delivery, I probably would not be nearly as broken.
Let me ask you, if a birthing center was built next to a tertiary care center, would you attend a birth center? Curious since I am doing a paper on birth centers.
Yeah, but pinky, you have to admit that 99% of the time a nurse or an obstetrician is going to tell a woman to assume the supine position, probably before labor even really gets going, and that this isn't for the mom's sake or the baby's safety but because you can't monitor a woman by EFM and you can't easily manage an IV line if she's moving around or shifting positions. :P
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is that supine positioning and obstetric beds are made for the convenience of the physician or other babycatcher. Not the mom or the baby.
ieuww!!! this is really scary
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI just deleted this spam comment since it had a link; otherwise it was kind of stupidly hilarious and I wanted to leave it.
ReplyDeletekatty said...
This blog is really wonderful and very interesting. It catched my attention since the first time.
But when i read the word bed my imagination flies to another place.I love the cozy and big bed and enjoy the soft mattress with a boy. All of this after to buy viagra to get the bet performance.
Friday, August 06, 2010 3:28:00 PM