High-Tech Births
Dec. 8th, 2003 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
primroseburrowsFrom Reuters:
Defense Software Could Make Births Safer -Report
(2003-12-03)
LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have incorporated defense software used to pick up targets on military radar into a new painless technique that detects problems during labor and could lead to safer births.
The electrocardiogram (ECG) trace developed by the defense research company QinetiQ can record an electrical signal from the heart and indicates if the baby is not getting enough oxygen or has an irregular heartbeat, a science magazine reported.
It can also detect the strength of the mother's contractions, which shows how the labor is progressing.
"The non-invasive system records signals from 12 electrodes on the mother's abdomen, separating out useful components from background noise from muscles other than the heart or interference from electrical equipment," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
Doctors at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in southwestern England who are testing the device believe it will help to detect early problems during the delivery and help to rule out unnecessary Caesarean deliveries.
A technique called cardiotocography (CTG) is already used during labor but it is not as accurate as the ECG.
"The researchers also found they could measure the mother's contractions directly, using the electrical signals from the muscles," the magazine added.
© Copyright 2003, Reuters
Um. I think this could be useful in very, very high risk birth situations. In normal, low risk situations, however, it's just another way of making chilbirth into an illness, of stealing power from women AGAIN. How much do you want to bet that millions of women will insist on it without question?
Defense Software Could Make Births Safer -Report
(2003-12-03)
LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have incorporated defense software used to pick up targets on military radar into a new painless technique that detects problems during labor and could lead to safer births.
The electrocardiogram (ECG) trace developed by the defense research company QinetiQ can record an electrical signal from the heart and indicates if the baby is not getting enough oxygen or has an irregular heartbeat, a science magazine reported.
It can also detect the strength of the mother's contractions, which shows how the labor is progressing.
"The non-invasive system records signals from 12 electrodes on the mother's abdomen, separating out useful components from background noise from muscles other than the heart or interference from electrical equipment," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
Doctors at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in southwestern England who are testing the device believe it will help to detect early problems during the delivery and help to rule out unnecessary Caesarean deliveries.
A technique called cardiotocography (CTG) is already used during labor but it is not as accurate as the ECG.
"The researchers also found they could measure the mother's contractions directly, using the electrical signals from the muscles," the magazine added.
© Copyright 2003, Reuters
Um. I think this could be useful in very, very high risk birth situations. In normal, low risk situations, however, it's just another way of making chilbirth into an illness, of stealing power from women AGAIN. How much do you want to bet that millions of women will insist on it without question?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-08 07:25 am (UTC)The weirdest parts were: being stopped whilst walking the halls, because I hadn't 'checked in' with the nurse to let her know where I was going. Nevermind that I didn't know where she was or how to get her to tell her, even if I had known I was suddenly back in grade school. Then I was 'allowed' to get into the bathtub, but once I was in the nurse alternated between telling me that there was no way I was feeling nauseaous, etc (all signs of transition, or v. close to the pushing stage), and telling me I needed to get out of the tub, because 'we don't want to have that baby in the water, now do we?' (Nevermind that water birth is a perfectly acceptable thing)
I was lucky in that I wasn't continuously monitored and I was given some freedom. I think the nurse got uncomfortable because about three hours into it I took off the damn hospital gown and was naked after that. The thing about labour is that it's good for the baby, and the thing about feeling the contractions and working with it is that there's a difference between 'normal' pain and 'there's a big problem' pain, and usually in those cases, the mother's going to know - before the machines register it.
You should also know that unmedicated births can result in intense orgasms. I didn't experience one myself (I think position matters, as well), but from what I've read, birth orgasms are... particularly memorable. Our bodies really do like us, sometimes. :D