How can a cork stuck in a wine bottle save lives from a birth complication?
The BBC reports that, “a potentially revolutionary device to help women during difficult births has come from an unlikely source – a car mechanic from Argentina, who based the idea on a party trick.”
Jorge Odon, himself the father of five children, has a talent for invention. In 2005, he was startled awake by an idea – not for one of his usual inventions in the field of mechanics, but a new way to assist women in childbirth.
He’d recently learned a party trick where a cork is removed from the inside of a bottle by inserting and inflating a plastic bag. Odon applied the theory to making labor not only easier, but also safer than deliveries which employ the use of forceps or the suction cup ‘vacuum.’ After talking about it with his family’s obstetrician, Odon built a prototype. By 2008, Jorge Odon and his device had the attention of the World Health Organization.
Dr. Javier Schvartzman of the Centre for Medical Education and Clinical Research in Buenos Aires says that the most important thing is that the Odon Device is easy to use and could potentially be implemented by a midwife without a doctor present. It also reduces the risk of transmission of infections like HIV from mother to baby during delivery, and could lower the number of births by Caesarean.
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Read the article from BBC News Magazine and watch the demonstration video to see exactly how the Odon Device works. Tell us your thoughts on this progressive device to assist in labor.
Image from original article.