For Frequently Asked Questions, please go to individual product pages.

This brand new Simulator provides a platform for the teaching and acquisition of many of the practical skills required for the successful management of childbirth. It has been developed for multiple professional training, in conjunction with midwives and obstetricians from Southmead Hospital, Bristol (UK) and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital (UK). It is an integral part of the PROMPT (PRactical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training) course.

Affectionately known as 'Nellie' during its development, the PROMPT Birthing Simulator incorporates a number of features which enhance training: an anatomically correct bony pelvis in the mother (modelled from patient CT scan data), silicone pelvic floor musculature and a stretchable perineum. The baby is of newborn size and weight, is fully articulated, and features anatomical landmarks e.g. fontanelles, clavicles and scapulae.

The product was originally designed to improve training for the manoeuvres required to accurately manage shoulder dystocia; an unpredictable, and largely unpreventable, obstetric emergency that is not always appropriately managed. Annual drill training for the management of shoulder dystocia is a requirement for the maternity Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) level II in the UK, and is recommended by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in the USA.

Obstetric brachial plexus injury (OBPI) is a serious neonatal complication of shoulder dystocia which may be associated with excessive traction applied during delivery*. The unique force monitoring baby incorporates a strain gauge which links to a computer for the measurement and display of the force applied to the baby by the accoucheur during delivery.

The Birthing Simulator, with its force monitoring capability, has recently been used for a UK Department of Health funded study, SaFE (Simulation and Fire-drill Evaluation), to investigate training for obstetric emergencies. During the product development stage midwives and obstetricians, who received training using a prototype, demonstrated a significant objective improvement in the management of simulated shoulder dystocia**.

In addition to training for deliveries complicated by shoulder dystocia; this high fidelity birthing simulator realistically simulates normal delivery, in semi-recumbent and all fours positions, as well as vaginal breech and instrumental (forceps and ventouse) deliveries.

* Risk Factors for Shoulder Dystocia: an engineering study of clinician-applied forces Allen R, Sorab J, Gonik B. Dept of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark. Obstet Gynecol. 191 Mar;77 (3) :352-5

** Shoulder dystocia training using a new birth training mannequin Joanna F Crofts, Georgios Attilakos, Mike Read, Thabani Sibanda, Timothy J Draycott. RCOG 2005 BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 112, pp. 1-3