Apparatus for measuring pushes during labor
View Patent ↗A device to accurately measure the strength or level of the voluntary pushes supplied by the laboring mother during the second stage of labor through the contraction of her abdominal musculature, that comprises a hollow handheld base with a central lumen and a recess enclosing a calibrated spring into which a shaft with a central lumen capped by a mushroom-shaped outer surface is inserted which tip is applied to the anus to pass a catheter containing a solid-state pressure transducer to provide an accurate measure of the strength of voluntary maternal expulsive efforts without interfering with those efforts or with the birth canal of the mother.
1 . An apparatus to measure strength of voluntary pushes supplied by a laboring mother during a second stage of labor through a contraction of the laboring mother's abdominal musculature, comprising:
a top component comprising a tip and a hollow shaft positioned below the tip, the hollow shaft includes an outer surface with position indicators;
a spring;
a base including a recess with an upward-projecting stem in the recess, the hollow shaft is positioned in the recess around the upward-projecting stem, the spring is positioned in the recess around the upward-projecting stem and inside the hollow shaft, a central lumen rums through the base and the tip;
a catheter positioned in the central lumen of passing through the base and the tip; and
a pressure transducer positioned at a first end of the catheter.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the tip is a mushroom-shaped tip.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein:
the mushroom-shaped tip is anatomically shaped to fit snugly within a contour of an external anus.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the position indicators include colored bands encircling the hollow shaft.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the position indicators include three colored bands of yellow, green and red encircling the hollow shaft.
6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the base is topped with a flared handguard to shield and protect a hand of an operator from contact with bodily fluids of the laboring mother;
the green band being collinear with a top of the flared handguard and the yellow band being hidden inside the recess indicates correct pressure has been applied to the base to match the measured pressure inside a rectum;
the yellow band being collinear with the top of the flared handguard indicates insufficient pressure has been applied to the base that does not match a measured pressure inside the rectum; and
the red band being collinear with the top of the flared handguard and the green band being hidden inside the recess indicates too much pressure has been applied to the base that does not match the measured pressure inside the rectum.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the spring is a calibrated spring.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the base is a semi-spheroidal base.
9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the base is topped with a flared handguard to shield and protect a hand of an operator from contact with bodily fluids of the laboring mother.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the pressure transducer is a solid-state pressure transducer.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a control unit connected to the catheter and in communication with the pressure transducer.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
an external pressure control unit connected to the catheter and in communication with the pressure transducer.
13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the catheter is a flexible catheter.
14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the base is a semi-spheroidal base; and
the base is topped with a flared handguard to shield and protect a hand of an operator from contact with bodily fluids of the laboring mother.
15 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the tip is a mushroom-shaped tip;
the base is a semi-spheroidal base; and
the base is topped with a flared handguard to shield and protect a hand of an operator from contact with bodily fluids of the laboring mother.
16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:
the position indicators include three colored bands of yellow, green and red encircling the hollow shaft;
the green band being collinear a the top of the flared handguard and the yellow band being hidden inside the recess indicates correct pressure has been applied to the base to match the measured pressure inside a rectum;
the yellow band being collinear with the top of the flared handguard indicates insufficient pressure has been applied to the base that does not match the measured pressure inside the rectum; and
the red band being collinear with the top of the flared handguard and the green band being hidden inside the recess indicates too much pressure has been applied to the base that does not match the measured pressure inside the rectum.
17 . A method of measuring strength of voluntary pushes supplied by a laboring mother during a second stage of labor using an apparatus comprising:
a top component comprising a mushroom-shaped tip and a hollow shaft positioned below the mushroom-shaped tip, the mushroom-shaped tip is anatomically shaped to fit snugly within a contour of an external anus, the hollow shaft includes an outer surface encircled with three colored bands of yellow, green and red;
a spring;
a base including a recess with an upward-projecting stem in the recess and topped with a flared handguard, the hollow shaft is positioned in the recess around the upward-projecting stem, the spring is positioned in the recess around the upward-projecting stem and inside the hollow shaft, a central lumen runs through the base and the mushroom-shaped tip;
a flexible catheter positioned in the central lumen passing through the base and the mushroom-shaped tip;
a solid-state pressure transducer positioned at a first end of the catheter; and
an external pressure control unit connected to the catheter and in communication with the solid-state pressure transducer;
the method comprising:
applying the mushroom-shaped tip to an external anus of the laboring mother;
advancing the catheter with the solid-state pressure transducer through the anal canal into the rectum;
applying pressure to the base to compress the spring and advance the base up the shaft until the green band is collinear with a top of the flared handguard and the yellow band is hidden inside the recess; and
measuring strength of contraction of the laboring mother's abdominal musculature using the solid-state pressure transducer.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the applying pressure comprises pushes forward on the base to apply counterpressure and support to an anal sphincter to prevent overdistention and possible rupture.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the applying pressure comprises the shaft of the mushroom-shaped tip retreating into the recess of the base and compressing the spring which is so calibrated that a position of the base on the colored bands on the shaft allows an operator to accurately match a external counter-pressure exerted to a intra-rectal pressure when the green band is collinear with the top of the flared handguard.
20 . An apparatus to accurately measure the strength of voluntary pushes supplied by a laboring mother during a second stage of labor through the contraction of a laboring mother's abdominal musculature, comprising:
a top component comprising a mushroom-shaped tip and a hollow shaft positioned below the mushroom-shaped tip, the mushroom-shaped tip is anatomically shaped to fit snugly within a contour of an external anus, the hollow shaft includes an outer surface encircled with three colored bands of yellow, green and red;
a spring;
an oblate, semi-spheroidal base including a recess with an upward-projecting stem in the recess and topped with a flared handguard to shield and protect a hand of an operator from contact with bodily fluids of the laboring mother, the hollow shaft is positioned in the recess around the upward-projecting stem, the spring is positioned in the recess around the upward-projecting stem and inside the hollow shaft, a central lumen runs through the base and the mushroom-shaped tip;
a flexible catheter positioned in the central lumen passing through the base and the mushroom-shaped tip;
a solid-state pressure transducer positioned at a first end of the catheter; and
an external pressure control unit connected to a second end of the catheter and in communication with the solid-state pressure transducer.