"It took a while to get us all to agree on what we needed to monitor and what needed to change," says Brodman. "Then, we had to collect the data and make sure that what we tried to do is, in fact, correct. Our data now is showing good things."

In sharing their best practices, the consortium came up with protocols for obese patients and determined this population must be treated with special care. For example, the consortium agreed on the labor time limit for obese women, how long they can be in a certain dilation and what size baby should be delivered vaginally or operatively, says Brodman.


"We have a very rigorous set of protocols that people follow so there's consistency," he says.

The group is currently working on creating a patient pamphlet that includes information on the potential risks of delivery with an abnormal BMI, nutritional information and lifestyle changing options, such as bariatric surgery, explains Haberman.

"What we try to do as a group is create some guidelines and bring out the message that obesity and morbid obesity is not business as usual, as far as managing antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum," she says.

But will the consortium share its data beyond the five institutions?

"We actually share with anyone who is talking to us," says Brodman. "We're writing up our data now. There'll be a series of articles that will get published probably in the next six months, which will show all of this good work."

Haberman believes that public education about the risks associated with obesity should be more widespread. It goes beyond a matter of outside appearances, as women's overall health is the real victim, she points out.

Pull up a chair...but think twice?

Beyond retro-fitting and reinforcing existing furniture, many hospitals also purchase bariatric furniture for lobbies and waiting rooms. Keith Holmes, the general manager of Bariatrics Unlimited, a Kentucky-based specialized provider of bariatric furniture, has been in the industry long enough to know the difference between quality and fallible furniture design.

"I like to tell everyone I was in bariatrics before it was cool," he says.

Holmes grew up with a 500-pound man, who was like a brother to him. He says that hospitals make up the majority of the company's customer base and about a third of the customers are end-users.




With the obesity statistics in mind, it is no surprise the bariatric furniture market is an attractive place to be. Holmes says he's seen many manufacturers move into the sector. However, it's not as simple as just making a regular chair bigger. In the past, products that claimed they could hold a certain weight did not always live up to their specifications.

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