Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
LENA: Yes (M IDWIFE : yes) or yes, of course you did (an ultrasound)
MIDWIFE: Yeah, that's right, okay, exactly. We did the estimation a bit from
that maybe (L ENA : yeah) (…) this is the head seen from above (L ENA :
uhum) this is between the fi ngers [inaudible] (L ENA : uhum)
[the midwife scans for 19 seconds]
MIDWIFE: Do you see the face (L ENA : yes) [inaudible] eye, eye, it is almost
laughing (L ENA : yes) [laughter] the mouth (…)
LENA: Oh dear, oh no, that's cool
MIDWIFE: [laughter].
At the same time as the midwife performs the measurement, she starts to
interpret the image on the screen to the parents. The midwife shifts between
these tasks by fi rst telling the parents about the check-up she is going to carry
out, and then what they see on the screen: 'so, then I will measure a leg',
and 'so we see the thigh rather clearly'. So, unlike in the fi rst phase of the
examination, the midwife now comments on what they see on the screen.
This also means that the midwife directs the parents' looking at the screen
with her talk and with the aid of the computer-arrow.
Example 4
MIDWIFE: Now I'll measure this one crosswise
MORGAN: It's, it's the head you've got there?
MIDWIFE: It's the head I'm measuring, right
MONIKA: I would have said it was the tummy! [quietly]
[giggles]
MORGAN: What did you say?
MONIKA: I would have said it is the tummy [giggles]
MORGAN: [laughter].
When the midwife performs these measurements she 'freezes' the image
on the screen. This means that when she measures the baby's head, it is seen
as a still image. Her way of measuring, from temple to temple, results in an
image of the head in cross-section, from above. The image on the screen
then resembles an anatomical picture of the brain. The midwife repeatedly
comments on this still image. She explains that the non-moving image on
the screen does not signify anything abnormal. The way the midwife tries
to make the image understandable can also be understood as a way to avoid
worries about something being wrong with the baby that could be triggered
by what the parents see on the screen.
Also, the midwife always asks the woman about the calculated date of
delivery according to previous dating, as we see in Example 3. In most cases,
a dating has already been done earlier in the pregnancy, which means that the
midwife, as well as the parents, already has a date to relate to. The midwife,
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