A combination labor, delivery and patient care bed, comprising:
- first and second independently constructed bed frame modules, each having first and second longitudinally spaced ends, each bed frame module having a longitudinal length dimension and a transverse width dimension, each of said bed frame modules including a plurality of corner legs engageable with a floor surface;
- said bed frame modules each including a horizontal open framework having a common elevation relative to the floor surface and having a width common to one another;
- releasable latch means mounted on said bed frame modules for alternatively attaching the first ends of the modules to one another to form a full length bed or for releasing the bed frame modules from one another for independent movement and usage of the bed frame modules about a floor surface;
- a center mattress section movably mounted on said first bed frame module at said first end thereof, said center mattress section having longitudinally spaced lower and upper transverse ends defining the boundaries of a patient support surface thereon;
- an upper mattress section movably mounted to said center mattress section about a transverse axis across the upper end of the center mattress section, said upper mattress section having longitudinally spaced lower and upper ends defining the boundaries of an upwardly facing patient engaging surface formed thereon;
- a lower mattress section movably mounted on said second bed frame module, said lower mattress section having longitudinally spaced lower and upper transverse ends defining the longitudinal boundaries of an upwardly facing patient engaging surface formed thereon;
- and operational means connected between the first bed frame module and said center and upper mattress sections and connected between the second bed frame module and the lower mattress section for selectively locating the respective mattress sections in the following alternative configurations relative to the bed frame modules while the respective bed frame modules remain attached to one another:
- (a) a first condition in which the patient engaging surfaces of the upper, center and lower mattress sections are coplanar;
- (b) a second condition in which the center mattress section is raised relative to the first bed frame module and lower mattress section to a position in which its lower transverse end is elevationally above the upper transverse end of the lower mattress section;
- (c) a third condition in which the lower mattress section is lowered relative to said second bed frame module and center mattress section to a position in which its upper transverse end is elevationally lower than the lower transverse end of said center mattress section;
- (d) a fourth condition in which the patient engaging surfaces of said upper mattress section are inclined upwardly and outward in a longitudinal direction leading from the transverse upper end of said center mattress section;
- (e) a fifth condition in which the upper and center mattress sections are coplanar and inclined downwardly in a direction leading from the lower end of the center mattress section to the upper transverse end of the upper mattress section.