Recent Studies Show Homebirth Is Safe, Episiotomy Is Harmful
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) finds that two recent studies about homebirth and episiotomy give additional evidence supporting the Principles and the Ten Steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI).
(PRWEB) August 5, 2005 -- A study in the June 18th issue of the British
Medical Journal found that “planned home births for low risk women in the United
States are associated with similar safety and less medical intervention as low
risk hospital births.” With prospective data from more than 5000 births attended
in 2000 by Certified Professional Midwives in the US, this is the largest study
of its kind.
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) finds
that two recent studies about homebirth and episiotomy give additional evidence
supporting the Principles and the Ten Steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth
Initiative (MFCI).
A study in the June 18th issue of the British Medical
Journal found that “planned home births for low risk women in the United States
are associated with similar safety and less medical intervention as low risk
hospital births.” With prospective data from over 5000 births attended in 2000
by Certified Professional Midwives in the US, this is the largest study of its
kind.
In addition to finding that planned homebirth is safe, the study
illustrates that out-of-hospital birth leads to fewer of the medical and
technological interventions common in hospitals. For example, the average
cesarean rate was 3.7% compared to over 24% for the US as a whole in 2000 (and
over 28% in 2003). Electronic fetal monitoring, induction of labor, and
stimulation of labor were all under 10% in the home births, compared to 84%,
21%, and 18% for the US as a whole. All these interventions carry risks for
mothers and babies, yet they are unnecessary for the vast majority of healthy
women who are capable of having normal births.
The episiotomy rate for
women in this study was 2.1% compared to over 30% of women having vaginal births
in the US. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association
shows that routine episiotomy offers no benefit and causes harm to women.
Episiotomy is a surgical cut in the perineum as the baby is born to increase the
opening of the vagina. In addition to increasing the need for stitching, causing
pain, and extending the healing period, episiotomy is also associated with
increased bowel incontinence and pain during intercourse.
The
Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative recognizes that “Birth is a normal,
natural, and healthy process.” And that “Birth can safely take place in
hospitals, birth centers, and homes.” The sixth of the Initiative’s Ten Steps
recommends against the routine use of a number of procedures, including
episiotomy, for which the recommended goal is 5%. Clearly, that 5% goal is
supported by the home birth study in which midwives who are trained in measures
to support the perineum and avoid unnecessary surgery kept the Episiotomy rate
even lower.
Johnson, Kenneth C., Daviss, Betty-Anne “Outcomes of planned
home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in
North America” BMJ 2005;330:1416 (18 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7505.1416, full
text available at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehom
Hartmann
K, Viswanathan M, Palmieri R, Gertlehner G, Thorp J, Lohr KN. Outcomes of
routine episiotomy: a systematic review. JAMA 2005;293:2141-8. For more
information, go to http://www.maternitywise.org/jama_episiotomy_response.html.
The
Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS), a United Nations recognized
NGO, is a collaborative effort of numerous individuals, leading researchers, and
more than 50 organizations representing over 90,000 members. Promoting a
wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and
substantially reduce costs, CIMS developed Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative
in 1996. A consensus document that has been recognized as an important model for
improving the healthcare and well being of children beginning at birth, the
Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative has been translated into over a dozen
languages and is gaining support around the world.
COALITION FOR
IMPROVING MATERNITY SERVICES (CIMS)
P.O. Box 2346 Ponte Vedra, FL
32004
Contact:
Rae Davies, Executive Director
1-(888)
282-CIMS
904-285-2120
e-mail protected from spam bots
www.motherfriendly.org
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb268797.htm