Biomechanics of pregnancy and vaginal delivery

During pregnancy, the female reproductive organs and pelvic structures undergo dramatic changes in geometry, anatomical position, and function to accommodate the growing fetus and prepare for delivery. During these processes, various complications can occur significantly impacting the baby and mother's health and are understudied from a biomechanical perspective. Biomedical engineers work cooperatively with clinicians and biologists to understand the changes that occur during pregnancy and vaginal delivery and how this impacts maternal and fetal health. To accomplish this, engineers and their collaborators' design and leverage various imaging modalities, computational tools, and tissue engineering systems to quantify how and why the reproductive organs and surrounding structures evolve throughout pregnancy. This review focuses on the techniques and methods developed over the past five years to improve our understanding of the biomechanics of the female reproductive organs and pelvic structures during pregnancy and vaginal delivery.