NZ257309A

NZ257309A - Labour/delivery chair to position mother adjustably between standing and kneeling forward leaning squat positions and provide body, chest, forehead and thigh support

Info

Publication number: NZ257309A
Application number: NZ25730993A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Wayne David Johnson
Original assignee: Wayne David Johnson
Priority date: 1992-11-03
Filing date: 1993-10-29
Publication date: 1995-10-26
Also published as: GB9413391D0; GB2279558A; AU646199B1; WO1994009740A1; GB2279558B; CA2127619A1

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> 257 309 New Zealand No. 257309 international No. PCT/AU93/00557 TO BE ENTERED AFTER ACCEPTANCE AND PUBUCATION priority dates; z-»I- , ~l • S • <?2>. International fifing date: ./0 93 Classification: fiWGisIotf-; flunafoc; ftl£lC~tfo(s /fit Publication date; 2 0 OCT 1995 Joumai No.: HEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Title of invention: Natal chair Name, address and nationality of applicant(s) as in international application fonn: WAYNE DAVID JOHNSON, 14 McKinnon Drive, Tewantin,, Queensland, Australia 4565 ) 4^ Pfustra l(4 n 25 7309 2 NATAL CHAIR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Given freedom of choice a laboring parturient woman will often adopt an upright, forward-leaning posture on a birthing stool or leaning on a squatting bar or simply supported by her partner or caregivers. This posture, whilst making use of gravity and aiding pelvic opening and improving fetal oxygenation will diminish or eliminate severe back pain as experienced in many difficult labors. Olds et al 1S92 Maternal Newborn Nursing, pages 672-674 Menlo Park, California: Addison Wesley Joyce Roberts Maternal Position During The First Stage of Labour, Chalmers, Enkin & Keirse (Eds) 1990 Effective Care In Pregnancy And Childbirth Vol 2, Pages 883, 884, Oxford University Press The problem is that there has been no specific device which can comfortably support the mother without causing exhaustion. Squatting and sitting on a birthing stool will cause discomfort and lower leg numbness due to excessive flexing of the knees for extended periods of time. Leaning on a squatting bar will cause numbness of the arms and exhaustion due to the low surface area supported. Hence many mothers will go into an all fours position, which, whilst providing no gravity assistance, offers back pain relief, good fetal oxygenation and does not exhaust the mother so readily. There is a need for a device which will adequately support the mother's weight whilst keeping her pelvis, sacrum and coccyx unpressured. It is also necessary to allow her lower legs to be free and not excessively flexed, allowing her independence for standing and ambulation. - 3 - SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises an adjustable labor/delivery chair variable about a central axis to different elevations allowing the mother to position her teet comfortably under her centre of gravity in line with the resultant force acting on her body, ready to take any proportion of her weight during contractions or between contractions if she wishes to stand and walk. In any of these positions she may squat or sit upright if she so desires without any external pressure on the sacrum. A noteworthy feature of the chair is the fluid impervious, tension adjustable body sling which automatically conforms to the mother's particular abdominal shape and size. The body sling is tension adjustable by means of a hexagonally ended chest bar to which the body sling is attached and which may be rolled up or down, shortening or lengthening the body sling in six precise amounts per revolution. The hexagonal ends may also be slotted into one of five different height positions providing height adjustment for the difference between mothers of short or tall torso length. The body sling is shortened to a tension where there is an amount of support and comfort provided for the individual mother. A washable cloth headrest sling is also height and tension adjustable, by means of hook and loop fasteners. The s±ing conforms to the shape of the mother's forehead to allow for comfortable neck flexion and breathing space. A removeable thigh support board is positioned on the seat bars up against the upright bars to support the mother's thighs and take weight off the pelvis and allow the innominate bones to move. Rubber sleeved handgrips are also provided to be positioned at variable heights on the upright elevation bars. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a perspective view of the natal chair FIG 2 is a side view of a parturient woman using the chair in its prefered embodiment FIG 3 is a front view of the chest bar with enlargement and detail FIG 4 is a side view of the chest bar with enlargement and detail FIG 5 is a side view of a parturient woman using the chair with an erect sitting posture FIG 6 is a side view of a parturient woman using the chair in an almost kneeling posture FIG 7 is a side view of a parturient woman using the chair with her, legs extended on the footrests ~v— f.* A. * * ~ V 257509 4 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 1 The natal chair is an adjustable, forward-leaning, fluid impervious-cloth slung pregnancy chair used by expectant mothers for labour and delivery. It is preferably aluminium alloy framed for strength, lightness and hygiene considerations. The mother sits forward, leaning on the chair's 5 'frontrest' as the chair has no 'backrest' . The fluid-impervious body sling 13 has a section cut away from the seat for access to the birth canal (Fig 1). The chair positions the mother in a forward-leaning aspect with her legs either side of the chair and with her feet positioned comfortably under, 10 or almost under her centre of gravity, (Figures 2, 5 and 6). The natal chair ergonomically supports the mother's weight through the thighs mostly, but also through the feet, shoulders and arms, buttocks and forehead. No weight is transmitted through the sacrum which is allowed to pivot backwards to open the pelvic outlet to its full extent. 15 The chair consists of two front support bars 1 bolted between two seat bars 2 by a threaded-rod axis 4. The chair is adjustable about this central axis to six different elevations between a standing squat (Fig 2) through to a sitting squat (Fig 5) or an almost kneeling squat (Fig 6) by means of a horizontal elevation bar 6 which is suspended from the front 20 support bars by upright elevation bars, and which slots into one of six recesses on the lower seat bars. The bottom end of the body sling 13 is attached to the rounded top ends of the seat bars. The top ends of the seat bars above the pivot point are bent downwards slightly and rubber sleeved for comfort. The top end 25 of the sling is screwed to a rubber sleeved steel roller chest bar 7 which is adjustable to five different heights on the chest bar height adjusters 8. The chest bar itself has hexagonal ends 9. Screws 10 attach the body sling to the chest bar. The chest bar may also be rolled up or down to give different sling tensions or abdominal pressures per height 30 position. If the body sling is shortened the abdominal pressure is increased. A cloth headrest sling 15 is attached by hook and loop fasteners 20 between the top ends of the front support bars and is angled forward slightly to allow the mother's forehead to slump forward comfortably into 35 it. A removeable thigh support board 5 is positioned on the seat bars above the central axis for added thi;*s. support and to free up the pelvic bones. The frame is narrowed at the centre between the pivot points of the central axis 4 into a recess which provides for the mother's thighs and 40 knees not to have to be spread to excess. The mother may grip the upright elevation bars 3 or above the headrest 18 or the front support bars 1. A moveable rubber sleeved handle bar 11 is positioned at variable heights between the elevation bars for extra grips. 45 Rubber tips 19 cap the lower ends of the upright bars help prevent injury to mothers or care givers. </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> - 5 - 25 7 30 9 THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A labour/delivery chair with front support having sufficient height for delivery and positioning the mother in a forward leaning inclination with her posture adjustable between an almost standing squat (Fig 2) and a sitting squat (Fig 5) or an almost kneeling squat (Fig 6) wherein the mother's perineum sacrum, lower back, upper back, neck and occiput are exposed enabling massage or treatment of these areas; comprising: (a) two front support bars hinged between two seat bars, the angle therebetween being adjustable (b) a height adjustable rubber sleeved chest bar bridging the front support bars (c) a variable pressure, fluid-impervious body sling with a section cut away for access to the birth canal attached between said chest bar and ends of said seat bars (d) a washable cloth forehead-rest sling between said front support bars (e) a thigh support board positioned on said seat bars under said body sling,

2. A labour/delivery chair as in Claim 1 positioning the mother so that most of her weight is applied through her thighs to the thigh support board; having the advantage of opening up the pelvic outlet, with no pressure on the sacrum or coccyx, effectively increasing the size of the pelvic outlet thus facilitating birth.

3. A labour/delivery chair as in Claim 1 having a variable pressure body-sling, conformable to the particular body shape of the mother for comfort, the abdominal pressure provided by which can be reduced to zero by rolling out the sling from the chest bar or increased by rolling in the sling onto the chest bar.

4. A labour/delivery chair as in Claim 1 having a washable cloth forehead-rest sling which is height and tension adjustable by means of hook and loop fasteners between the tops of the front support bars.

5. A labour/delivery chair as in Claim 1 with moveable rubber sleeved handgrips for aiding bearing down efforts, able to be height adjusted according to mother's individual arm length and fixable to a set position by means of wing bolts screwed through hand grip slides to provide friction on the upright elevation bars.

6. A labour/delivery chair as in Claim 1 able to be closed about the central axis into a smaller volume for transport.

7. A labour/delivery bar 6 extended to

8. A labour/delivery chair as m Claim 1 with the horizontal elevation ■; — serve as footrests as shown in Fig 7. ■ rh chair substantially as herein described..*/ *\\\ U .. ^ </div>