A situation such as a post-partum hemorrhage can be a life-or-death emergency in a maternity ward.

Nurses and doctors need to be prepared for everything, and part of providing world-class health care is high-tech training.

CTV News got a first-hand look at the extremely realistic training health care workers receive at BC Women's Hospital.

The education involves simulations using robotic mannequins of mothers and babies.

"We connect the blood pressure cuffs on them, we can check their pulse on their arms, we can check their oxygen levels, we can start IVs and poke them," explained BC Women's nurse Money Sanghera.

The mannequins' chests rise and fall like they're breathing and their abdomen "skin" moves like a person's would. The "moms" have a silicone cervix that can dilate from four centimetres to 10 during vaginal birth simulations.

Some models of "SimMom" come with amniotic bags to simulate rupturing of the membranes during delivery, and fluid reservoirs to allow for simulated blood and urine during training. Some versions allow for simulations of uterine inversion.

The purpose of the SimMom mannequins is to help nurses train for the emergencies that come from giving birth. They're designed to teach those being trained to recognize potential risks to both mother and baby.

"We can do a breach delivery, you can do a hemorrhage at the time of delivery, she has a C-section abdomen so you can simulate her having a caesarean," educator Jackie Allen said.

The hospital also has a "SimBaby" to let doctors and nurses practice resuscitating an infant.

"If we were not doing these simulations on a regular basis it's sometimes easy to lose some of the skillsets involved there," Sanghera said.

But the models the hospital has are used so often they're starting to break down. BC Women's would like to buy the next generation of sim mannequins, including a model of a premature baby, that don't need to be tethered to a computer.

The new "mom" would cost the hospital about $80,000, but staff say it's money well spent.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson