Chapter 2: BONES & THE PELVIS
Lesson Introduction
The skeletal system provides the body's framework. Bones protect organs, store minerals, produce blood cells in bone marrow, and work with muscles and joints to create movement.
For doulas, skeletal anatomy is especially helpful when learning about the spine, hip bones, sacrum, coccyx, and the structures that form the bony pelvis.
You do not need to memorize every bone in the human body. Focus first on the structures that help you understand posture, movement, and birth-related anatomy.
Tips & Tricks
Memory trick: Ilium, Ischium, Pubis
Remember these three parts of each hip bone:
Ilium: the broad, upper portion.
Ischium: the lower portion associated with the sitting bones.
Pubis: the front portion.
Try the “point and explain” method. Look at a pelvis diagram, point to one structure, name it, and explain its location without reading the label.
Learn relationships, not isolated names. The sacrum sits between the two hip bones. The coccyx sits below the sacrum. The pubic symphysis joins the pubic bones at the front.
Use a model if possible. A physical pelvis model can make spatial relationships easier to understand than a flat illustration alone.
Common Misconceptions
Bones are living tissues, not inert structures.
The sacrum and coccyx are part of the axial skeleton, although they help form the bony pelvis.
The pelvis does not become dramatically or uniformly loose during pregnancy.
External hip width does not determine whether someone can give birth vaginally.
Recommended Study Links
Use these resources to reinforce the lesson, not to replace your slideshow or the chapter's assigned materials.
Knowledge Check
What are the five major functions of the skeletal system?
What are the three parts of the adult hip bone?
Which bones form the bony pelvis?
Where is the sacrum located?
Why is anatomical knowledge useful to a doula?
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