Helping Childbirths

[GDS_Starfury]

never underestimate oddball ideas.

The idea came to Jorge Odón as he slept. Somehow, he said, his unconscious made the leap from a YouTube video he had just seen on extracting a lost cork from a wine bottle to the realization that the same parlor trick could save a baby stuck in the birth canal.

Mr. Odón, 59, an Argentine car mechanic, built his first prototype in his kitchen, using a glass jar for a womb, his daughter's doll for the trapped baby, and a fabric bag and sleeve sewn by his wife as his lifesaving device.

Unlikely as it seems, the idea that took shape on his counter has won the enthusiastic endorsement of the World Health Organization and major donors, and an American medical technology company has just licensed it for production.

With the Odón Device, an attendant slips a plastic bag inside a lubricated plastic sleeve around the head, inflates it to grip the head and pulls the bag until the baby emerges.

Doctors say it has enormous potential to save babies in poor countries, and perhaps to reduce cesarean section births in rich ones.

"This is very exciting," said Dr. Mario Merialdi, the W.H.O.'s chief coordinator for improving maternal and perinatal health and an early champion of the Odón Device. "This critical moment of life is one in which there's been very little advancement for years."

About 10 percent of the 137 million births worldwide each year have potentially serious complications, Dr. Merialdi said. About 5.6 million babies are stillborn or die quickly, and about 260,000 women die in childbirth. Obstructed labor, which can occur when a baby's head is too large or an exhausted mother's contractions stop, is a major factor.

In wealthy countries, fetal distress results in a rush to the operating room. In poor, rural clinics, Dr. Merialdi said, "if the baby doesn't come out, the woman is on her own."

The current options in those cases are forceps — large, rounded pliers — or suction cups attached to the baby's scalp. In untrained hands, either can cause hemorrhages, crush the baby's head or twist its spine.

Although more testing is planned on the Odón Device, doctors said it appeared to be safe for midwives with minimal training to use.

Along the way, it has won research grants from the United States Agency for International Development and from Grand Challenges Canada. "We've given out $32 million for 61 different innovations, and this one is the farthest along," said Dr. Peter A. Singer, the chief executive of Grand Challenges Canada.

The device will be manufactured by Becton, ****inson and Company, or BD, of Franklin Lakes, N.J., which is better known for making syringes.

"My first reaction, as soon as I saw it, was positive," said Gary M. Cohen, the company's executive vice president for global health. It was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Dr. Merialdi asked him to consider taking it on.

"Many inventions get to the prototype stage, but that's maybe 15 percent of what needs to be done," Mr. Cohen said. "There's finalizing the design for manufacture, quality control, the regulatory work and clinical studies. Absent that, they don't see the light of day."

So far, the device has been safety-tested only on 30 Argentine women, all of whom were in hospitals, had given birth before and were in normal labor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/health/new-tool-to-ease-difficult-births-a-plastic-bag.html?_r=1&;

[Gusington]

Better than clamps, which can scar and hurt the baby and the mother.

[GDS_Starfury]

and one could torment a little brother for years afterward.

[LongBlade]

Actually my Daughter #1 was born using a suction cup device. Not that one, but one much like it.

Yeah, she was a conehead for several weeks, but babies' head bones are intended to be soft so they can exit the birth canal more easily. After a while it goes away. I guarantee you'd never have guessed that by seeing her today.

BTW, that was after the clamps et al had been tried. No birth is easy, but I think #1's was a bit of a challenge. All worked out well in the end for everyone, though.

[Keunert]

Daughter 1's birth went for 24hours and came two weeks late. my wife hero decided to not take painkillers. it was 24 hours of continuous hard pain. i cried just from watching her and realizing what pain does to a human. she was like a junky high on drugs. after my daughters arrival she begun losing blood like mad. she felt a cold taking hold of her body and said this to the next doctor. the guy almost panicked and took her to the emergency room. i was left with a newborn on my lap for hours.

[GDS_Starfury]

glad ya all made it through.

[Martok]

glad ya all made it through.

Strongly seconded.  Jesus Kenny, that's scary. 

[Staggerwing]

And thirded.

Was she born at home? You mention the  doctor having to take your wife to the emergency room so I take it she wasn't already in a hospital.

[Keunert]

thank you guys. i think the wife's body kept some damage permanently. it would need some surgery to improve. the birth took place in a birthhouse (thus very limited painiller options). it was a mistake in hindsight but she's tough and seldom complained. the daughters fine.