Low-cost equipment
Homemade stethoscopes
A stethoscope is a hollow tube that makes it easier to listen for
sounds inside a person’s chest or belly. It is a good tool for
listening to the baby’s heartbeat inside the womb.
The best stethoscopes are made of metal and plastic, and can be expensive.
But there are several homemade stethoscopes you can make:
• Use a hollow tube
of bamboo,
wood, or clay.
about 15 cm
3 to 4 cm
• Use the top of a narrow-necked
plastic bottle and
a piece of
rubber
tube.
• Cut off the top of a rubber
suction bulb, and use it
with a piece of rubber tube.
Homemade scales
A store-bought scale is more accurate and easier to use than these scales,
but these are cheap and easy to make.
4 kinds of scales
Beam scale
This is the easiest kind to make and
probably the most accurate. The beam
can be made of dry wood or bamboo.
The movable weight can be a bag,
bottle, or tin can filled with sand.
Folding scale
This scale is easy to carry from
place to place. It works best if
made of metal or plywood strips.
hang scale from your
hand or a hook
2 hooks about 5 cm apart
scale hangs from this hook
beam (1 m long)
30 cm
joined with
nuts and bolts
plywood or
sheet metal
baby
movable
weight
(about 1 kg)
metal
hook
weight
445
A Book for Midwives (2010)