Strollerderby

Balloon Helps Pregnant Woman "Practice"

Posted by JeanneSager

File this one under WTF?

Jezebel reported yesterday on a new invention filed with the U.S. Patent Office that allows a woman to practice giving birth . . . with a balloon.

Did any of these people actually go through natural childbirth first? Quick tip - a solid mass of baby is NOTHING like a squishy air-filled balloon. Trust me.

I haven't tried this thing - and really, I'd have no need now. But here's the deal, thanks to Inventor Spot: "The way it sort of works is that the balloon is partly located inside the vagina of the pregnant woman. When inflated, the balloon causes the orifice of the birth canal to dilate in a manner similar to that caused by the emerging head of a baby."

I understand women are really curious before birth about how this whole thing is going to go down. Especially in the latest weeks of pregnancy, we agonize over whether it's going to hurt, whether we're going to know what to do, whether there's anyway we can actually do it wrong. But after having been there and done that, I can't imagine how a "balloon birth" would clear up much of the confusion. If anything, I'd be more freaked out during labor when it was NOTHING LIKE what I'd practiced. Because, you know, there's that hard baby head, the contractions, the baby SHOULDERS . . . not to mention thirteen hours of labor that tired out my entire body before the pushing. 

Does this seem silly to you or would you have liked a little trial run?

Image: Inventor Spot

Via Jezebel

Related Posts:


+ DIGG + STUMBLE

Comments

 

elohveeee12 said:

my first thoughts on this... what if the balloon popped? (ouch!)

i didnt go to the link or anything, but they probably are not using a regular latex birthday balloon. but you say balloon, and i just think how much it would hurt if it popped.

other than that, i totally agree with you. baby coming out of your vagina is very different than a balloon.

February 26, 2009 4:38 PM
 

Alice said:

Hahahaha!  A man invented this.  

February 26, 2009 9:11 PM
 

Kimmie said:

OMG! Its like going through child birth TWICE for one baby!!! OUCH!

February 27, 2009 3:26 AM

About JeanneSager

Jeanne Sager is a writer who lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, a dog and too many cats. She refuses to believe motherhood comes with pumpkin appliqued sweaters, and she';s not ready to apologize for having only one child. She writes about raising her kid in her own hometown and the mom stuff she's not embarrassed to own at her blog, Inside Out (http://jeannesager.blogspot.com), she's contributing editor of Grand Magazine, and she's a regular essayist here on Babble

in

GROUP BLOGS

  • Strollerderby

    The smartest, funniest, most exhaustive parenting blog in the blogosphere.
  • Droolicious

    Modern design for modern parents.
  • FameCrawler

    Your daily baby celebrity fix.
back to blog homepage