Systematic Review of Case Reports of Poor Neonatal Outcomes With Water Immersion During Labor and Birth

Epidural or water immersion? A prospective cohort study of maternal and neonatal outcomes in a tertiary hospital

BACKGROUND

Providing evidence-based information on maternal and neonatal outcomes of epidural analgesia (EA) and water immersion (WI) is crucial for informed decision-making.

OBJECTIVE

To compare process outcomes, obstetric interventions, and maternal and neonatal outcomes in medium low-risk women based on their choice of analgesia: EA or WI.

METHODS

This prospective observational cohort study analysed 643 women from June 2020 to February 2023. Sociodemographic data, birth process characteristics, and outcomes were collected to compare 284 women who used EA and 319 who used WI (with 82.4% waterbirths). Additionally, 40 cases of women who switched from WI to EA were descriptively analysed. Propensity Score (PS) was applied to reduce selection bias in the comparative analysis.

FINDINGS

WI was associated with a higher probability of spontaneous vaginal birth (18.7%, E:0.187; SE:0.025; p < 0.001 95% CI 0.138,0.235), shorter first stage (-259.532 min; SE:13.592; p < 0.00195%, 95% CI -286.171, -232.892), shorter second stage of labour (-17.829 min; SE:4.665; p < 0.001 95% CI -26.973,-8.686) In terms of neonatal outcomes WI (with 82.4% of waterbirths) was associated with less neonatal ventilatory support (1.6%vs 9.5% p<0.001,RR 0.028 95% CI 0.11-0.56), less birth distress (0.9%vs 7.7% p<0.001,RR 0.22 95% CI 0.06-0.52), lower probability of neonatal admission rates (E:-0.102; SE 0.033, p=0.002, 95% CI -0.166, -0.088), and higher probability of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge especially for multiparous women (E:0.114; SE 0.045 p=0.01 95% CI 0.027, 0.202).

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE

Water immersion for low-risk women emerges as a valid, evidence-based approach to supporting physiological childbirth and reducing unnecessary interventions. This study highlights the need to reinforce its availability in maternity care and to ensure women's informed decision-making.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes among spontaneous vaginal births occurring in or out of water following intrapartum water immersion: The POOL cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Warm water immersion during labour provides women with analgesia and comfort. This cohort study aimed to establish among women using intrapartum water immersion analgesia, without antenatal or intrapartum risk factors, whether waterbirth is as safe for them and their babies as leaving the water before birth.

DESIGN

Cohort study with non-inferiority design.

SETTING

Twenty-six UK NHS maternity services.

SAMPLE

A total of 73 229 women without antenatal or intrapartum risk factors, using intrapartum water immersion, between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2022. The analysis excluded 12 827 (17.5%) women who received obstetric or anaesthetic interventions before birth.

METHODS

Non-inferiority analysis of retrospective and prospective data captured in NHS maternity and neonatal information systems.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Maternal primary outcome: obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) by parity; neonatal composite primary outcome: fetal or neonatal death, neonatal unit admission with respiratory support or administration of antibiotics within 48 hours of birth.

RESULTS

Rates of the primary outcomes were no higher among waterbirths compared with births out of water: rates of OASI among nulliparous women (waterbirth: 730/15 176 [4.8%] versus births out of water: 641/12 210 [5.3%]; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.97, one-sided 95% CI, -∞ to 1.08); rates of OASI among parous women (waterbirth: 269/24 451 [1.1%] versus births out of water 144/8565 [1.7%]; aOR 0.64, one-sided 95% CI -∞ to 0.78) and rates of the composite adverse outcome among babies (waterbirth 263/9868 [2.7%] versus births out of water 224/5078 [4.4%]; aOR 0.65, one-sided 95% CI -∞ to 0.79).

CONCLUSION

Among women using water immersion during labour, remaining in the pool and giving birth in water was not associated with an increase in the incidence of adverse primary maternal or neonatal outcomes.

Neonatal Outcomes of Water Delivery versus Land Delivery: A Retrospective Propensity Score Weighted Study

OBJECTIVE

Recent evidence has shown that water delivery is safe for the mother, but high-quality evidence is not available for the newborn. Therefore, obstetric guidelines do not support it. This retrospective study aimed to contribute to the available evidence on maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with water delivery.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study from prospectively collected birth registry data from 2015 to 2019. A total of 144 consecutive water deliveries and 265 land deliveries eligible for waterbirth were identified. The inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method was applied to address for confounders.

RESULTS

We identified 144 women who delivered in water (water group) and 265 women who delivered on land (land group). One (0.7%) neonatal death was observed in the water delivery group. After IPTW adjustment, water delivery was significantly associated with a higher risk of maternal fever in puerperium (odds ratio [OR]: 4.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.86-17.02; p = 0.004), of neonatal cord avulsion (OR: 20.73; 95% CI: 2.63-2,674; p = 0.001), and of positive neonatal C-reactive protein (CRP > 5 mg/L; OR: 2.59; 95% CI: 1.05-7.24; p = 0.039); delivering in water was associated with lower maternal blood loss (mean difference: 110.40 mL; 95% CI: 191.01-29.78; p = 0.007), a lower risk of major (≥1,000 mL) postpartum hemorrhage (OR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.92-0.99; p = 0.016), lower risk of manual placenta delivery (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.03-0.67; p = 0.008) and curettage (OR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.08-0.60; p = 0.002), lower use of episiotomy (OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0-0.12; p < 0.001), and lower risk of neonatal ward admission (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.25-0.48; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present study showed that differences are present between water and land delivery, and among them is the risk of cord avulsion, a severe and potentially fatal event. In women choosing to deliver in water, a trained staffmust be present and immediate recognition of cord avulsion is key for a prompt management to avoid possible serious complications.

KEY POINTS

· High-quality evidence is not available for neonatal safety of waterbirth; therefore, retrospective studies still represent the main body of evidence.. · Differences are present between water and land delivery, and among them, the increased risk of cord avulsion is a potentially fatal event.. · A trained staff must assist women who chose to deliver in water and cord avulsion must be promptly recognized and managed to avoid severe neonatal complications..

Understanding the barriers and facilitators related to birthing pool use from organisational and multi-professional perspectives: a mixed-methods systematic review

AIMS

To identify and synthesize the evidence regarding the facilitators and barriers relating to birthing pool use from organizational and multi-professional perspectives.

DESIGN

A systematic integrated mixed methods review was conducted.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, EMCARE, PROQUEST and Web of Science databases were searched in April 2021, March 2022 and April 2024. We cross-referenced with Google Scholar and undertook reference list searches.

REVIEW METHODS

Data were extracted from studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Barriers and facilitators to birthing pool use were mapped and integrated into descriptive statements further synthesized to develop overarching themes.

RESULTS

Thirty seven articles (29 studies) were included-quantitative (12), qualitative (8), mixed methods (7), and audits (2), from 12 countries. These included the views of 9,082 multi-professionals (midwives, nurses, obstetricians, neonatologists, students, physicians, maternity support workers, doulas and childbirth educators). Additionally, 285 institutional policies or guidelines were included over 9 papers and 1 economic evaluation. Five themes were generated: The paradox of prescriptiveness, The experienced but elusive practitioner, Advocacy and tensions, Trust or Trepidation and It's your choice, but only if it is a choice. These revealed when personal, contextual, and infrastructural factors were aligned and directed towards the support of birth pool use, birthing pool use was a genuine option. Conversely, the more barriers that women and midwives experienced, the less likely it was a viable option, reducing choice and access to safe analgesia.

CONCLUSION

The findings demonstrated a paradoxical reality of water immersion with each of the five themes detailing how the "swing" within these factors directly affected whether birthing pool use was facilitated or inhibited.

Alternate Birth Strategies

Community birth is defined as birth that occurs outside the hospital setting. Birthing in a birth center can be safe for certain patient populations. Home birth can also be safe in well-selected patient with a well-established transfer infrastructure should an emergency occur. Unfortunately, many areas of the United States and the world do not have this infrastructure, limiting access to safe community birth. Immersion during labor has been associated with decreased need for epidural and pain medication. Delivery should not occur in water due to concerns for infection and cord avulsion. Umbilical cord non-severance (also called lotus birth) and placentophagy should be counseled against due to well-documented risks without clear benefit. Birth plans and options should be regularly discussed during pregnancy visits.

Content Analysis of Water Birth Policies With Implications for Practice and Research

OBJECTIVE

To identify areas of agreement and variation in clinical guidance documents (protocols, policies, or guidelines) that direct water birth care.

DESIGN

Qualitative descriptive.

SETTING

The clinical guidance documents studied covered water birth in home and hospital settings.

SAMPLE

The sample included 22 water birth guidance documents in English from six countries. The documents were obtained by request and resulting snowball sampling.

MEASUREMENTS

The framework method was adapted as an analytic tool, and a structured matrix output was used to organize and support the method of qualitative content analysis using a general inductive approach. Areas of general agreement and variations in practice guidelines for water birth were identified.

RESULTS

Criteria for a term, singleton, and cephalic presentation with reassuring maternal and fetal status were the most consistent for inclusion. The reliance on "low-risk" status was strongly present but without a uniform definition. A history of previous cesarean birth, body mass index, use of opioid pain medication, adequate labor progress, and vaginal bleeding were found to vary in directed care, and scarce supporting evidence was offered. Meconium-stained fluid variably excluded water birth in most documents, but this was not supported by evidence. The inconsistent findings from this study are cohesive in the evidence they provide for needed research in areas that affect access to water birth. The findings also provide nurses and birth providers with evidence-based guidelines for water birth care.

CONCLUSION

There was variation across guidance documents, demonstrating that water immersion is a flexible intervention that can be implemented in different settings and locations while following individual facility protocols for processes for care. An identified area of concern comes from examples of overly restrictive policies for water birth based on opinion or perceived risk rather than evidence from research.

A prospective cohort study comparing neonatal outcomes of waterbirth and land birth in an Australian tertiary maternity unit

BACKGROUND

Maternal preference for warm water immersion (WWI) and waterbirth is increasing, but adoption into obstetric guidelines and clinical practice remains limited. Concerns regarding safety and a paucity of evidence have been cited as reasons for the limited adoption and uptake.

AIM

The aim was to investigate maternal and neonatal outcomes after WWI and/or waterbirth compared with land birth.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective cohort study was conducted in an Australian public maternity hospital between 2019 and 2020. Maternal and neonatal outcomes for 1665 women who had a vaginal birth were studied. Primary outcome was admission to the neonatal unit (NNU). Secondary outcomes included neonatal antibiotic administration, maternal intrapartum fever, epidural use and perineal injury. Multivariate logistical regression analyses compared the outcomes between three groups: waterbirth, WWI only and land birth.

RESULTS

NNU admissions for a suspected infectious condition were significantly higher in the land birth group (P = 0.035). After accounting for labour duration, epidural use and previous birth mode, no significant difference was detected between groups in the odds of NNU admission (P = 0.167). No babies were admitted to NNU with water inhalation or drowning. Women birthing on land were more likely to be febrile (2 vs 0%; P = 0.007); obstetric anal sphincter injury and postpartum haemorrhage were similar between groups. Regional analgesia use was significantly lower in the WWI group compared to the land birth group (21.02 vs 38.58%; P = <0.001). There was one cord avulsion in the waterbirth group (0.41%).

CONCLUSION

Maternal and neonatal outcomes were similar between groups, with no increased risk evident in the waterbirth and WWI groups.

Systematic review and meta-analysis to examine intrapartum interventions, and maternal and neonatal outcomes following immersion in water during labour and waterbirth

OBJECTIVES

Water immersion during labour using a birth pool to achieve relaxation and pain relief during the first and possibly part of the second stage of labour is an increasingly popular care option in several countries. It is used particularly by healthy women who experience a straightforward pregnancy, labour spontaneously at term gestation and plan to give birth in a midwifery led care setting. More women are also choosing to give birth in water. There is debate about the safety of intrapartum water immersion, particularly waterbirth. We synthesised the evidence that compared the effect of water immersion during labour or waterbirth on intrapartum interventions and outcomes to standard care with no water immersion. A secondary objective was to synthesise data relating to clinical care practices and birth settings that women experience who immerse in water and women who do not.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

A search was conducted using CINAHL, Medline, Embase, BioMed Central and PsycINFO during March 2020 and was replicated in May 2021.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES

Primary quantitative studies published in 2000 or later, examining maternal or neonatal interventions and outcomes using the birthing pool for labour and/or birth.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Full-text screening was undertaken independently against inclusion/exclusion criteria in two pairs. Risk of bias assessment included review of seven domains based on the Robbins-I Risk of Bias Tool. All outcomes were summarised using an OR and 95% CI. All calculations were conducted in Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V.3, using the inverse variance method. Results of individual studies were converted to log OR and SE for synthesis. Fixed effects models were used when I2 was less than 50%, otherwise random effects models were used. The fail-safe N estimates were calculated to determine the number of studies necessary to change the estimates. Begg's test and Egger's regression risk assessed risk of bias across studies. Trim-and-fill analysis was used to estimate the magnitude of effect of the bias. Meta-regression was completed when at least 10 studies provided data for an outcome.

RESULTS

We included 36 studies in the review, (N=157 546 participants). Thirty-one studies were conducted in an obstetric unit setting (n=70 393), four studies were conducted in midwife led settings (n=61 385) and one study was a mixed setting (OU and homebirth) (n=25 768). Midwife led settings included planned home and freestanding midwifery unit (k=1), alongside midwifery units (k=1), planned homebirth (k=1), a freestanding midwifery unit and an alongside midwifery unit (k=1) and an alongside midwifery unit (k=1). For water immersion, 25 studies involved women who planned to have/had a waterbirth (n=151 742), seven involved water immersion for labour only (1901), three studies reported on water immersion during labour and waterbirth (n=3688) and one study was unclear about the timing of water immersion (n=215).Water immersion significantly reduced use of epidural (k=7, n=10 993; OR 0.17 95% CI 0.05 to 0.56), injected opioids (k=8, n=27 391; OR 0.22 95% CI 0.13 to 0.38), episiotomy (k=15, n=36 558; OR 0.16; 95% CI 0.10 to 0.27), maternal pain (k=8, n=1200; OR 0.24 95% CI 0.12 to 0.51) and postpartum haemorrhage (k=15, n=63 891; OR 0.69 95% CI 0.51 to 0.95). There was an increase in maternal satisfaction (k=6, n=4144; OR 1.95 95% CI 1.28 to 2.96) and odds of an intact perineum (k=17, n=59 070; OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.21 to 1.79) with water immersion. Waterbirth was associated with increased odds of cord avulsion (OR 1.94 95% CI 1.30 to 2.88), although the absolute risk remained low (4.3 per 1000 vs 1.3 per 1000). There were no differences in any other identified neonatal outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

This review endorses previous reviews showing clear benefits resulting from intrapartum water immersion for healthy women and their newborns. While most included studies were conducted in obstetric units, to enable the identification of best practice regarding water immersion, future birthing pool research should integrate factors that are known to influence intrapartum interventions and outcomes. These include maternal parity, the care model, care practices and birth setting.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42019147001.

Comparative Efficacy of Water and Conventional Delivery during Labour: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

In many maternal settings, water delivery is widely available for women who do not have an increased risk of complications during childbirth. Soaking in water during labor has been associated with a number of maternal benefits. However, the situation of water birth is not well known, there is lack of hard evidence on safety, and little is known about the characteristics of women who give birth in water. In this paper, we have explored the effects of water delivery compared to the conventional delivery on the health of mothers and babies. For this purpose, clinical trials were conducted including women in labor, in which participants were treated with water labor or conventional labor, respectively, in the experimental and control group. In this analysis, we have selected 17 eligible studies which included 175654 participants. Compared to the conventional birth group, the risk of Apgar score <7 at 5 min of age in the water birth group dropped by 28% (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.52-1.00, I 2 = 25%, P=0.05). Also, the duration of labor was shorter the in water birth group whatever the labor stage was. The patients who underwent water birth showed an obviously lower rate of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.39-0.86, I 2 = 53%, P=0.007). In this meta-analysis, it was seen that water delivery has clinical significance in alleviating the pain of mothers, promoting the safety of mothers and infants, and reducing postpartum complications.