Sitting in water can be helpful during early labor, but new research suggests it does not provide any benefit and can even be harmful during the birth itself.
"Many labor and delivery units are equipped with tubs to be used by laboring women, and immersion in water for relaxation and pain relief is appealing to some," Jeffrey L. Ecker, MD, chair of the College's Committee on Obstetric Practice that developed the Committee Opinion, said in an American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists news release. "But it is important to recognize that laboring in water is not the same as delivering underwater. Laboring in water may offer some potential benefits, but delivering underwater does not seem to have clear advantages, and the risk of rare, but serious, consequences to a delivering baby's health is something women and providers should all be aware of."
"The members of the committees conducted a thorough review of the literature, and came to the conclusion that there is no evidence to support delivering babies in water has benefits to the baby," Tonse Raju, MD, chief, Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), who served as the NICHD-liaison to the AAP Committee on Fetus and Newborn, said in the news release.
The new recommendations do suggest the use of water in early labor as it can reduce pain and even shorten labor in some cases.
The recommendations suggest that hospitals: create a set protocol for water births; keep birthing tubs and other equipment sanitized; follow "infection control procedures"; keep track of what the phase pregnant women submerged in the tub are in; and move women out of the tubs immediately if any concerns arise.
The efficacy of immersion during the second phase of pregnancy is yet to be determined.
Risks involving water births include: "difficulty in the regulation of the baby's body temperature; increased chance of umbilical cord damage; respiratory distress resulting from the baby inhaling tub water; and potential for seizures or asphyxiation of baby following birth," the news release reported.
