Stork Labs is developing a soft‑robotic, sensor‑guided assisted vaginal delivery device that provides clinicians with real‑time force and positioning feedback to enable precise, gentle traction during vaginal births. The flexible actuator conforms to the birth canal, reducing tissue trauma and helping obstetricians and midwives increase successful assisted deliveries while lowering reliance on emergency C‑sections.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Assisted vaginal delivery tools are underutilized because existing devices are difficult to operate, can cause injury, and provide no real-time procedural feedback, leading physicians to default to unplanned C‑sections. Unplanned C‑sections increase maternal mortality risk, hemorrhage risk, and healthcare costs.
Solution
Stork Labs is developing a soft‑robotic, sensor‑guided assisted vaginal delivery device that delivers precise traction while providing clinicians with real‑time feedback on force and positioning. The flexible actuator conforms to the birth canal, reducing tissue trauma, and integrated sensors quantify traction metrics to guide safe instrument use. By removing guesswork, the device aims to increase the rate of successful assisted vaginal deliveries and reduce reliance on emergency C‑sections. The system is designed for use in hospital labor and delivery suites and can be adopted without extensive retraining. Clinical insights from over 200 stakeholder interviews inform the device’s ergonomics and workflow integration.
Target Audience
Primary customers are obstetricians, midwives, and hospital labor‑and‑delivery departments seeking to increase assisted vaginal delivery success rates while minimizing maternal risk.
Features
- Soft‑robotic, flexible actuator that conforms to the vaginal canal for gentle, controlled traction
- Integrated force and position sensors delivering real‑time quantitative feedback to the operator
- User‑friendly interface that visualizes traction metrics and alerts for unsafe force thresholds
- Designed for rapid deployment in existing delivery rooms with minimal additional equipment
- Evidence‑based design informed by extensive interviews with obstetricians, midwives, and patients