lithotomy position

:  a position of the body for medical examination, pelvic or abdominal surgery, or childbirth in which the individual lies on the back with the hips and knees flexed and the legs spread and raised above the hips often with the use of stirrups … the lithotomy position remains the most commonly used birth position although decades of research demonstrate its severe physiological detriments …—Robbie Davis-Floyd, Mothering, 22 June 1993