The Cork-screw Invention - Inventor Develops a Better Way to Give Birth

 Jorge Odón, 59, an Argentinian car mechanic,  has invented a potentially life-saving device that could be used to help deliver babies when complications occur during labour in a non-hospital setting.

The Odón Device uses a polyethylene sleeve, fixed around the baby's head, to pull the child down the birth canal.

Mr Odón, who has no medical background, says he came up with the idea after seeing a YouTube video of a person removing a cork from a wine bottle using just a plastic bag. See more photos after the cut...

He says that after seeing this trick, he realised the principle could also be applied to help women struggling during labour. He says the thought hit him in the middle of the night and he woke up his wife to tell her about it, but that she just told him to go back to sleep.

Despite her dismissal, Mr Odón began work on the design and it is now the subject of a World Health Organisation approved study.

The instrument which could be safer than forceps, a ventouse, or a Caesarean section is being tested in Argentina and in rural South Africa to establish whether it could act as a safe and feasible birth aid for use by midwives with minimal training.

If it is brought into widespread use, Mr Odón says the gadget could be the first innovation in operative vaginal delivery since the development of forceps centuries ago.

The Odón Device allows a birth attendant to place a plastic 'bell' on the baby’s head before sliding a polyethylene sleeve along the birth canal and around the baby's head. When it is in place, a small amount of air can be pumped into the sleeve to secure it around the baby's head. The plastic inserter is then removed and the midwife can use the sleeve to deliver the baby's head.

The sleeve is lubricated to make the delivery easier. As the device reduces the amount of contact between the baby’s head and the birth canal it is thought it could also reduce the incidence of infections acquired during delivery.