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Educare

Educare

JUNIO 2007 N° 6 Volumen 5

Comparative study on the benefits of water vs conventional labour

Section: LEARNING TO TEACH

Authors

1Laura Fernández Martínez, 2Beatriz Delgado Rodríguez

Position

1Enfermera clínica en la Residencia Internacional de Mayores Villademar.2Enfermera clínica en el Hospital San Juan de Dios.

Contact address

C/Pedro Cerdán Sáez, nº 2, 1ºDcha. 30700 Torre Pacheco (Murcia).

Contact email: nikkitta85@hotmail.com

Abstract

This work was presented as a poster-type communication at the IX National Congress of Nursing at the Universidad Católica San Antonio in Murcia and the VII Seminar on Curricular Orientation, Murcia, in may 2006.

Women should be able to choose where and how to give birth, for other types of labour that are different to conventional labour exist. This study aims at comparing the benefits of a different type of labour, water labour, as compared to conventional labour. A comparative, cross-sectional analytical study was carried out on 12 multiparous women, 6 of whom had a water delivery with no epidural and the remaining 6 in a conventional setting with epidural analgesia. Data were collected using oral structured interviews and from the clinical records. Of the 100% women who had given birth in a conventional manner, 83% had received no information on the different types of labour. As regards the decrease in pain after the introduction of the needle, the results were not significant. In contrast, of the women who gave birth in the conventional manner, 50% felt a pain level between 1 and 3 after the administration of the epidural. With regard to comfort, the 100% of the women who had a water delivery were accompanied by a loved one and were able to move, whereas those who gave birth conventionally only 33.3% had a loved one by their side and 66.6% were allowed to move throughout the labour. In relation to data collected from the clinical records, 100% of labouring women who had a water delivery had no episiotomy, as compared to a 50% of women who gave birth in the conventional way and did have an episiotomy. Regarding the Apgar score, 83% of newborns born in the water had an ideal score and 16.6% a normal score, whereas 83% of newborns that were delivered by conventional means had a normal score and 16.6% an abnormal score.
Water labour affords great benefits for the newborn; however, there were no significant differences in women with respect to conventional delivery.

Keywords:

water labour; conventional labour; benefits for the newbornbenefits for the mother

Versión en Español

Título:

Estudio comparativo de los beneficios del parto en el agua frente al parto convencional