Robotic Childbirth: A Space Age Teaching Tool or A Wrong Step For Education?

This week, a news story hit that the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has begun to use a robot for educating their students on the physical elements of childbirth. The news video included some (debatably creepy looking) footage of the robot in practice. Lucina, Ireland’s only “birthing mannequin”, has been purchased for €75,000 to benefit the surgical education of the future doctors taught in RCSI. The reaction to this news story has been mixed, to say the least. Some are horrified at the idea of a robot being used to teach doctors how to work in a childbirth setting. Others find it a genius idea which will likely improve outcomes for future patients as the educational tool will prove beneficial to the doctors in their training. So, what exactly is the reasoning behind the robot, what is it likely to teach that our current system doesn’t have, and is it all a bit of space age nonsense?

Robotic Childbirth_ A Space Age Teaching Tool or A Wrong Step For Education?

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10 Hospital Bag Essentials for New Mammies

When you’re getting ready to have a new baby, whether your first or your 2nd/3rd/19th, the hospital bag is one of the most important things to have planned out. I would suggest not taking the approach I took, which involved a lot of putting it off until it was a little too late and ending up stuck in hospital trying to assemble the bag in dribs and drabs. The earlier the better is the general rule with these things, and if there is a next time, the bag will be being prepared from the 20 week scan!

10 essentials for your hospital bag you shouldn't be without
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Excitement, she’s in Print

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Yesterday, I was able to walk into a book shop and buy a magazine and open it to find my words, my name and my photo written on the glossy pages inside. To say I’m excited is an understatement – the fact that someone else found my writing worth publishing, and not just relegated to stuff I put up myself on the internet is something which amazes me and has done since my initial emails with the editor. Read More