The article talks several times about this device's application in under-developed countries where 'traditional positions' are already quite common. I guarante

The article talks several times about this device's application in under-developed countries where 'traditional positions' are already quite common. I guarantee you a huge percentage of the women who die every year giving birth are not 'prone and sedated'. They are (if they're lucky) in a rural clinic, with a midwife who may or may not be terribly skilled. If she _is_ skilled, it's because she has decades of experience watching mothers and babies die, and has learned many lessons in very painful ways. This device seems to provide a means for those midwives to assist in cases where labor simply isn't progressing (and believe it or not, that still happens, despite all the 'traditional positions' in the world).