Simulator may allow births be rehearsed

Difficult births could soon be rehearsed in advance using a “virtual birthing simulator” being developed by British scientists.

The computer software, tailored to individual patients, will take account of factors such as the shape of a mother’s body and the baby’s position in the womb.

Project leader Dr Rudy Lapeer, from the University of East Anglia’s School of Computing Sciences, said: “We are creating a forward-engineered simulation of childbirth using 3D graphics to simulate the sequence of movements as a baby descends through the pelvis during labour.