PartoPants^TM: The High-Fidelity, Low-Tech Birth Simulator

Abstract 

The purpose of this project was to create an inexpensive, universally accessible low-tech birth simulator for use in high-fidelity obstetric simulation learning. We adapted a pair of scrub pants to have a birth canal, perineum, urethra, rectum, symphysis pubis, and hemorrhage mechanism. PartoPants™ have been used in the United States and in Mexico for obstetrical emergency training, including eclampsia, hemorrhage, shoulder dystocia, breech birth, prolapsed cord, labor triage, and normal birth. PartoPants™ serve as a low-cost, low-tech birth simulator alternative that has been used successfully in high-fidelity obstetrical simulations.

Keywords: simulation, obstetric emergencies, education, low-cost, low-technology, high-fidelity, birth simulator