What is it about?
This retrospective study was to compare the outcomes of 78 waterbirths and 1623 conventional births
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Why is it important?
The strength of this study was the wide range of variables available in the patient data system and the fact that they were comprehensively used in the analyses. We were able to analyse the effect of waterbirth on the well-being of newborn infants during the first days of life. Variables such as breastfeeding success, the need for extra milk, bilirubin values and the time of discharge have been rarely analysed in previous studies on waterbirths.
Perspectives
Giving birth in water had several positive effects on mothers and babies in our study. The mothers required less pain medication, and the babies had a higher umbilical pH, were discharged early and needed less formula without experiencing increased weight loss. However, our study did reveal a number of factors that need to be addressed when giving birth in water. These were the higher percentage of perineal laceration during waterbirths and the lower body temperatures of newborn infants.
Leena Taittonen
Tampere University Hospital
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Waterbirths were associated with low pain relief during delivery, high breastfeeding success and healthy newborn infants, Acta Paediatrica, July 2022, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/apa.16467.
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