Landmark study compares risks of water births to births out of water

A landmark study has compared the risk of complications of water births.

The results could have implications for thousands of women each year who use birthing pools as a form of pain relief during labour, researchers said.

It concluded having a water birth does not increase the risk of complications for mother or baby.

The Pool study analysed 73,229 records from low-risk pregnant women who used a pool during labour across 26 NHS organisations in England and Wales between 2015 and 2022.

The team explored the rate of severe tears suffered by women during childbirth, as well as the number of babies who needed antibiotics or help with breathing on a neonatal unit after birth.

They also looked at the number of babies that died.

According to researchers, risks “were no higher among waterbirths compared with births out of water”.

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Source: The Independent, 11 June 2024