The miracle of birth: simulated

Noelle, a single mother who didn't receive any prenatal care, started her labor at 1 centimeter dilation at an urgent care center.

Her birthing experience was amazingly quick, much easier than the hours-long process many mothers remember. After only about six minutes, Noelle was holding her brand new baby girl -- a 4-pound, 15 1/2-inch wonder.

Or at least that's the scenario the University of South Carolina Department of Nursing had planned Jan. 29 at the school's Science and Technology building at USCB's South Campus.

Noelle is actually a $30,000 human birthing simulator USCB was borrowing from the Medical University of South Carolina for a couple of weeks so nursing students could practice on her as part of their Women's Health studies. And late last month the school invited faculty, staff, students and the media to witness the demonstration.

"This is a great learning experience for the students," USCB OB instructor Patti Miller said abou manikin.

Noelle is able to cough, gag, have contractions, fully dilate and shout a number of common complaints heard from a laboring mother.

Students are able to check the manikin's blood pressure, perform cervical exams and even practice their bedside manner by asking her questions about how she feels and her medical history.

Noelle is connected to a laptop computer sitting on a counter just a few feet away, where nursing instructor and lab coordinator Bonnie Borgelt controls the manikin's contractions and chooses from a long list of commands that tell the machine what to do and say.

To demonstrate a worst-case scenario for example, she could choose "haven't seen a doctor" or "used cocaine today." Or she can speak into a microphone from the next room to personalize the machine's responses to nursing students' questions.

When it was time to deliver the baby, Miller stepped in and pulled the lifelike plastic doll from Noelle's "womb." And just like that, everyone in the room witnessed the miracle of birth -- sort of.

Instructors can change the scenario so the students get experience with all types of births. The baby manikin can come out breech or with its cord first, for example.

Borgelt, who instructs and evaluates the students on their nursing skills, said the school has 14 of their own manikins, half of which talk and have blood pressures. But none have the same abilities as Noelle, so Borgelt asked to borrow the manikin from the medical school. This was the first time MUSC had let anyone borrow the expensive manikin.

"We were all excited about (getting the manikin)," Borgelt said. "I think it's been quite beneficial."

And the students seem to think Noelle has been a big help as well. A junior at USCB, Beth Majkrzak of Bluffton said what is really great about working with Noelle is that students not only can ask her questions, but she will respond to them.

"Sometimes you lose that (practice) in the real field because the doctor is up there (with the patient) doing their thing," Majkrzak said. "So you actually get that as a nursing student, which is very helpful."