Biomechanical study of a fetus during a vaginal delivery

The fetus head is a sensible structure, subjected to high efforts, since it has to pass through the birth canal. During vaginal delivery the fetal head is subjected to high loads, which are caused by the pelvic floor. The sutures in the skull are called cranial sutures and lie between the bony plates and are responsible for protecting the brain. Due to the existence of these sutures, the skull bones can move as they go through all the diameters of the maternal pelvis. The objective of this study is to contribute to the clarification of the values of the strains and stresses caused in the fetal head, related to a vaginal delivery. In this work, the stretch on the pelvic floor and in the fetal skull were studied. The forces caused by the fetus on the pelvic floor, when the fetus moves down toward the vulva were also studied. In this work we simulated a vaginal delivery with a fetus considered rigid and a fetus considered deformable (presence of the flexible sutures), presenting in an occiput-anterior position and in an occiput-posterior position. The results obtained for the stretching of the pelvic floor and the fetus skull are higher when the fetus is considered a rigid structure and in an occiput-posterior position. When the skull is a rigid structure, the forces on the pelvic floor and the stretches caused by the fetus are greater in relation to the skull with a deformable structure (presence of the flexible sutures).