The new machine will enable the researchers to study in greater detail how the baby moves through the mother’s pelvis and down the birth canal – issues that have long been studied and debated. The hospital’s Institute for Radiology and Obstetrics Clinic will work closely together on the project.
Among other benefits, it should help researchers to understand why about 15 percent of pregnant women need a Caesarian section because the baby does not progress properly into the birth canal.
Closed circuit television operators who witnessed the birth were so marked by the event they witnessed that they tracked the couple down and presented them with a video of the birth.
Mr Sullivan said: "It has to be the ultimate birth video and one which we’ll treasure forever.[...]
In the footage, a motorist in a silver Land Rover is seen pulling in front of the couple's Peugeot and lending Mr Sullivan his mobile phone. The father-to-be called the emergency services who talked him through the birth.
A passing off-duty police officer and a patrol car arrived on the scene and directed traffic around the couple's car.
The Richmans both ran towards the car and Aaron tried to push Melanie into the car, but instead she smashed out the passenger side window with her elbow. Aaron was able to climb inside the vehicle, while Melanie was dragged for a short time before letting go of the outside of the car.
Inside the vehicle, police said, Aaron hit and kicked the driver as he tried to save his child. The beating caused the carjacker to crash the car and then he fled the area on foot.
The greatest design challenge for the group has been resisting standardization. “As soon as you say, ‘You can only use a 4Runner’s headlight,’ the value goes out the window,” Mr. Prestero said. This problem might ultimately determine what aspects of NeoNurture’s approach will translate to mass production.
“Dashboard fans for circulation, signal lights and door chimes for alarms, the battery — those pieces aren’t so difficult to source locally,” Mr. Prestero continued. “A headlight filament might use a different gas, though, and that’s when it gets complicated.”
Whatever form a production version takes, NeoNurture has already posed a compelling — and empowering — argument. “I don’t know where you get a replacement incubator filter in a remote Nepalese village,” Mr. Prestero said, “but you likely can find someone there who can replace a car’s air filter. That’s where this idea really has virtue.”
An estimated 10 percent of contestants are now boys, up from 5 percent five years ago.
Some boys take the stage mere days after being born. "Kevin did really well," one mother said of her 2-week-old son on "Toddlers and Tiaras." "He was awake and wasn't crying."
In some cases, pageant moms admit their sons are filling a void. "When I see little girls, I always think, I could turn my little boys into girls," another mom said. "These are my girls I never had!"
But Miller insists Zander is living out his own dream. "The people who say this is not for little boys need to wake up. We are in 2010. Heading into 2011. I honestly never thought I'd be doing pageants with my son. But he loves it. Everyone loves him."
