Come learn about the strange combo of best-practices for managing birth in today’s hospitals: tracking cervical dilation in centimeters, assessed manually (yes, measuring by hand!). Central to labor management is the use of a “partogram” chart to track the mother’s cervical dilation in centimeters over time, from 0-10 cm. At 10 cm, you’re ready to push. The measurement of dilation is so central to labor management that it’s often used as a short-hand for labor progress itself: “You’re 4 centimeters along.” Yet, we measure dilation the same way today as we did 100 years ago, approximated by the human hand. If you’re wondering how it’s possible to accurately “feel” centimeters – and why we haven’t replaced this with some technology to do it more precisely – brace yourself. This talk will speed through a tour of the different instruments we’ve tried to make in the last century (mechanical, electromechanical, and electromagnetic devices, even ultrasonic imaging) and why all these techniques failed. By the end, you’ll have a better idea of why the hand is still the best measuring technology we have come up with yet.

This is a FREE event, but pre-registration is required. Click here to register.

About the Speaker: Rebecca Jackson is the John C. Slater Predoctoral Fellow at the American Philosophical Society and a PhD Candidate in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at Indiana University – Bloomington. Her dissertation, titled “Measuring ‘Well’: Clinical Measuring Practices and Philosophy of Measurement” focuses on four cases of successful patient-centric and non-standard clinical measuring practices from the 19th century to current debates. Her educational background includes a Masters in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, a graduate Minor in Statistics, and a dual BA in Mathematics and Creative Writing. Her first publication, on the history of the “drop” as a fluid unit in the 19th century, is featured in a recent issue of Perspectives on Science (Nov. 2021)