IE61703B1 - Obstetric bed - Google Patents

Abstract

A bed for obstetric purposes has three successive mattress portions which can be located so as to be coplanar for bed use, and two of which can be located as a chair after detachment of the third and leg rest portions. A panel which supports the leg rest portion can be slid below the seat to give attendant access to the perineal portion of a mother without it being necessary to displace the seat along the mattress frame.

Description

Modern obstetrics call for the use of a labour bed for the first stages of birth», a delivery bed for the actual birth process, and a recovery bed for subsequent use by the mother,., mother in any of a including sitting, standing .

Delivery itself may be with the very wide variety of positions squatting, kneeling, lying or even Very many designs of beds and birthing chairs exist, but the number of factors to be accommodated in the design is large and many present designs involve compromises which are unsatisfactory for some purposes.

EP 0136419 provides a bed mounted on a wheeled chassis with height elevation means, and with three mattress portions which can be located in co~planar fashion on a frame to form the labour bed. One first end portion (the backrest) can be upwardly tilted especially for use as a recovery bed. The centre portion of the mattress forms a seat, and the opposite end portion or leg rest is removable to allow the two remaining portions to be used as a delivery chair when the mother's feet rest on a platform generally parallel to the original coplanar mattress and located some way below the seat. For this purpose the seat and backrest parts of the mattress are made to be displaceable along the chassis and to take the seat over the leg rest part. Thus the seat and backrest are moved bodily to the foot end of the chassis. An obstetrician may then stand close to the perineal area. The disadvantage with this is that it could upset the balance of the bed and makes it unstable, unless the chassis part is made particularly large. However, these beds are often used in delivery rooms which may have been designed for very much simpler and compact apparatus and the increase in size is a disadvantage- Further, in a complex birth, there may be medical staff at both head and foot ends of the bed and at both sides, each with different responsibilities. In certain emergencies the one at the head end may need to gain near-instantaneous access ίο the mother’s head., for example for certain anaesthetical procedures. If the backrest and seat (with mattress and mother) have been displaced along the chassis, there is a delay whilst these parts are displaced back again before such access Is possible.

The object of the present invention is to provide improvements .

According to the invention, an obstetric bed/chair comprises a mattress support, a mattress having three adjacent sections to form.a backrest, a seat and leg rest respectively, said seat being fixed in position on the mattress frame, the support being arranged so that the portions may be co-planar? the backrest being tiltable relative to the seat, the leg rest being detachable, the portion of the mattress support which is for the leg rest being telescopically slidable below the seat to free the area occupied by the leg rest when the latter is in position co-planar with the seat and a detachable footrest being provided below said areas, so that the bed may be used as a chair without the seat means being displaced along the mattress frame.

When in the chair position, in the event of an emergency the backrest can be tilted to the flat position quickly» to give immediate access to the mother’s head by a member of the obstetric team disposed at the head end of the bed. Preferably the mattress support is provided on a wheeled chassis which may be provided with elevation means, tilt means and steering and braking means for the wheels» Preferably the foot end of the bed is provided with a plurality of pairs of sockets, one of which can be used to receive the footrests and others of which can be used to receive leg rests for example when the bed is used as a chair but with the mother having elevated legs for certain birthing positions. At such time, the detachable footrest can be removed enabling obstetrical assistance close to the perineal area without the footrest hampering access .

One embodiment of the invention is now more particular described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bed in the birthing chair position· with certain bed parts removed as will be explained hereinafter; Figures 2-9 are diagrammatic side elevations showing parts in different positions.

Referring first to Figure 1, the bed comprises a chassis frame 10 provided. with swivel castors 12 at each corner, with conventional means 14 for locking at least those castors at one end so that they are either immobilised against rotation (braked) or against swiveling (steered). The chassis supports a casing 15 housing a horizontally located jack operated by pedal 18 which, when operated, swings parallel linkage 20 to an upwardly inclined position as seen in Figure 4 for example. Another pedal allows the parts to be lowered. Gas struts may assist the movement. This allows the mattress frame 22 to be elevated or lowered in a parallel position. A tilt mechanism allows the mattress frame to be adjusted to a position non-parallel with the chassis and Figure 5 shows such a position. Further details of a suitable structure for this purpose are given in UK Patent GB2018221A.

The mattress frame has head and foot panels 26.28. both of which are detachable. In general they will both be in use in the full bed position for example for recovery ward use but one or both may be removed at other times.

The mattress frame 22 includes a panel 30 and a panel 32 which support different parts of the mattress per se. These two panels are coplanar when the bed is in the Figure 2 position but panel 30 is mounted on side members which can slide in the mattress frame to take the panel 30 below the panel 32. The side members haue an associated detente mechanism to allow the panel 30 to be locked in any of a series of positions between the two extremes in which it is coplanar with the seat and in which it is wholly below the seat.

The mattress comprises three successive portions namely backrest 34,, seat 36 and leg rest 38» The latter is supported by a panel 30 when in use., but is removed for example from the Figure 2 and 4 positions to take the bed to the Figures 1 and 3 positions» Particular attention is directed to the fact that in Figure 3 the chair is at the end of the mattress frame allowing free access at the righthand end in the Figures without it having been necessary to displace the parts 34, 36 along the mattress frames so that in an emergency the backrest 34 can be swung flat and the mother’s head is in the correct location for example for emergency oxygen supply by an anaesthetist at the head (lefthand end in the figures) of the bed/chair» The seat portion is effectively fixed in relation to the mattress frame» Step 40 is removably mounted on the chassis 20 and could be used as footrests,, or for patient access in order to climb onto the chair if the latter is in high elevation, or even for an attendant to stand upon. It will be noted that the step is at chassis height and is thereby fixed in its elevation, irrespective of mattress height which is adjustable in elevation» The seat portion 36 of the mattress is notched at 42 xn conventional fashion for perineal access. The leg rest portion of the mattress (not shown in Figure 1) has a complementary projection» Both panels 30, 32 have similar notches, and the head end of panel 30 has a similar projection» Hence the mattress provides substantially complete support for the patient without any gaps when all of the parts are assembled, and similarly the panels provide complete support for the mattress parts.

The ends of the frame which supports the panel 30 and which is slidable below the mattress frame 22 have a series of different pairs of sockets 66» 56, 55 for receiving any of a range of foot rests» leg rests and other accessories such as 66» 66, 50 for use as shown diagrammatically in Figures 6~9„ The sides of the bed are provided with tubular safety rails 52 slidable in sockets 56 with lock devices to allow the rails to be collapsed below the mattress as shown on the nearside of the bed as seen in Figure 1, or raised for patient protection or as a convenient grip handle for manoeuvreing the bed® as seen on the far side of the bed in Figure 1„ Other accessories as are conventionally used with birthing beds may also be provided together with appropriate attachment points for the same.

Claims (3)

1. An obstetric bed/chair comprising a mattress <· support» a mattress having three adjacent sections to form a backrest?, a seat and leg rest respectively, said seat being fixed in position on the mattress frame, the support being arranged so that the portions may be coplanar. the backrest being tiltable relative to the seat the leg rest being detachable, the portion of the mattress support which is for the leg rest being telescopically slidable below the seat to free the area occupied by the leg rest when the latter is in position co-planar with the seat and a detachable footrest being provided below said area, so that the bed may be used as a chair without the seat means being displaced along the mattress frame.

2. » A bed/chair as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the mattress support comprises a panel for the seat portion and a further panel for the leg rest, and the latter is slidable between a series of positions in one of which i is coplanar with the seat panel and in another of which It is located substantially wholly below the seat panel.

3. A birthing chair as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the mattress support is located on a wheeled chassis with elevation and tilt control means interposed between the mattress and chassis, and said chassis has at least one pair of sockets to support the said footrest. A. A bed/chair substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.