Biomechanical investigations into human birth with simplified models
Open AccessGiving birth is one of the primary reasons for women to be hospitalized throughout their lifetimes. It is a common, everyday occurrence and yet, from a bioengineering framework, not much is known about fundamental forces exerted during labor and delivery. Due to the challenges of studying birth in vivo, and because of limited previous experimental work, there is a need to build synthetic, simplified models of the uterus, cervix, and birth canal. With these models, we can investigate a variety of labor and delivery scenarios to understand fundamental physics and to discover relationships between geometry, birthing fluids, and delivery forces. This dissertation presents three simplified models in order of increasing complexity. Beginning with the birth canal, we simplify the fetus to a rigid cylinder and the birth canal as a highly flexible tube contained in a fluid bath. The model fetus is pulled through the birth canal at a constant velocity while measuring force. Then, we move to modeling the uterus as an elastic sphere and the fetus as a solid ovate with fluids of varied properties simulating amniotic fluid. In these experiments, we pull the ovate through the elastic uterus at different angular offsets to find delivery forces. Finally, we look at the cervix as a solid cylinder with changing mechanical and geometric properties. In these experiments, we will study the failure mechanism of the cervical cerclage: a common treatment for cervical insufficiency. With the knowledge gained from these simplified models, we can develop new approaches to solving problems in childbirth research, ensuring safer and healthier deliveries in the future.
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