Modern Birthing Furniture
Birthing chairs have historically resembled a cross between a medical contraption and a torture device. There are metal mechanisms and easily sterilized materials. There are restraining straps and apparatus that fold out from the most awkward places. They are accompanied by clicking and clanking sounds that are more industrious than comforting. The archaic designs leave little room for distinction from other medical tables or chairs and sufficiently make the mother into a patient rather than a participant. The entire point of a birthing chair is to maximize the comfort of the mother in order to assist labor and delivery.
The birthing position is a key aspect of the birthing experience. Positioning can be the tipping point in a divine delivery or a despondent labor. In ancient times, women were granted the ability to move through their pain and deliver their babies in the most comfortable and safe position possible. There was a turn in this objective that was directed toward providing the practitioner with a better view and access and was influenced by the benefits and success of lithotomy and dorsal positioning. Women were transformed into an object during labor. A simple vessel without voice or power in the act of bringing life into the world. Many women who give birth in a hospital feel like they were robbed of a transcendent experience.
In an effort to shift this erroneous notion of birthing in hospitals, Stiliyana Minkovska, architect and designer, has created an entire line of birthing furniture that is innovative, futuristic, functional, and empowering. Her creation, Ultima Thule, consists of three pieces that look like they came straight out of Men In Black. Her designs are done in soothing and neutral colors, invoking a tranquil actuality. The material is comfortable and easily sterilized. The pieces function to work with the stages of labor and the female body. Minkovska’s goal was to capture the out-of-this-world phenomena that childbirth is supposed to be. In her proposed maternity ward design idea, she addresses the patriarchal enforced dorsal or lithotomy position being harmful to the process. Her design allows the mother to be fluid in mind with the physical stages of labor by finding comfort during the process without sacrificing her peace of mind about intrusive procedures. The designer created an environment that empowers the woman in labor rather than restricts her. Minkovska is working to transform the industry of childbirth through her latest project M.O.T.H.E.R. &Design - Midwifery & Obstetric Transformations in Healthcare Environments through Research &Design, which aims to start a movement to shift the birthing process away from hospitals.
Another design of great note is the Kaya Stool. This creative little stool is designed to aid labor and delivery at all stages and function as a postpartum designer piece for the house. The Kaya stool was developed after an extensive cross-cultural, historical, and anthropological research campaign. Designer, Kara Springer, focused on historically founded labor positions and the intimacy of this process to create a multi-functional stool that works with the female body and accommodates her partner. She wanted to facilitate a means of power and choice regardless of the setting. The design is simplistic and chic. It is a solid, sturdy single-piece stool capable of supporting up to 400 lbs. It is made from easily sterilized material, meeting all hospital requirements for infection control. Feeling as though you are not in control of your body and your delivery is a major complaint by many women. Springer used a client-centered, research-driven approach to gain authentic insight into what would make women in labor feel safer and more comfortable. This empowerment aspiration is what inspired the Kaya stool’s versatility and functionality, creating a hybridized tool that seamlessly functions in home, birthing center, or hospital.
Both birthing pieces utilized the designers’ own child-birthing experience and their professional expertise. Additionally, both designers focused on the need for women to have options available for stages of labor and positioning. The freedom of movement and the non-supine position are supported by the World Health Organization. These ideals are conducive to ancient practices of child labor and are favored by women worldwide. Yet in the United States, the male and medical dominant institutions favor ease of access for the practitioner rather than the mother. Childbirth needs to shift away from the medical scope and back in line with the precious act it is. Being a vessel of life is a sacred rite of passage for any culture and should be treated as such.
