Comprehensive Analyses of Waterbirth Benefits for Mothers and Newborns
Main Article Content
Keywords
Midwives and student-midwives’ attitude, midwives and student-midwives’ confidence, midwives and student-midwives’ competence, midwives and student-midwives’ confidence, waterbirth perceived barriers, waterbirth perceived support.
Abstract
A waterbirth reduces pain for mothers and newborns, shortens the second stage of labor, and leads to fewer neonatal respiratory problems and hospitalizations. However, its use in the U.S is limited. Because waterbirth use is impacted by midwives' attitudes, confidence, expertise, and perceived supports and barriers. A national survey of U.S. midwives and midwifery students was conducted to learn their attitudes toward waterbirths, their confidence levels and sources of competence, and their perceptions of support and barriers. Analyses are achieved using emails and questionnaires that are sent to 6352 active members of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. Each subscale had quantitative and qualitative questions that permitted quantitative analysis by SPSS 25.0- even for categorized qualitative data. 1001 surveys are initiated and 919 are completed by 804 midwives and 115 students, respectively. The most commonly identified barrier is 'lack of scientific evidence of safety and benefits of waterbirth' (44%), followed by 'unwelcoming environment' (by 37.3%). U.S. midwives show positive attitudes towards waterbirth, probably because waterbirth supports physiologic birth. Waterbirth is also reported to be a confident and competent experience by midwives. It is imperative to support waterbirth practices by accommodating patients' desires for a waterbirth. In order to help overcome this main barrier and experience the many benefits of waterbirth, further research is needed.
References
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43. Ulfsdottir H, Saltvedt S, Georgsson S. Testing the waters — A cross-sectional survey of views about waterbirth among Swedish health
professionals. Women Birth.2020; (33):186-192.
44. Vanderlaan J, Hall P, Lewitt M. Neonatal outcomes with water birth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Midwifery. 2018; (59): 27-38.
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47. Young K. Kruske S. How valid are the common concerns raised against water birth? A focused review of the literature. Women
Birth. 2013;26(2):105-9
48. Zhao Y, Xiao M, Tang F. The effect of water immersion delivery on the strength of pelvic
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fundus images using stacked generalization of deep models." IEEE Access 9 (2021): 108276-108292.
51. Singh, Dilbag, Vijay Kumar, Manjit Kaur, Mohamed Yaseen Jabarulla, and Heung-No Lee. "Screening of COVID-19 suspected subjects using multi-crossover genetic algorithm based dense convolutional neural network." IEEE Access 9 (2021): 142566-142580.
52. Kaur, Manjit, and Dilbag Singh. "Multi-modality medical image fusion technique using multiobjective differential evolution based deep neural networks." Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing 12, no. 2 (2021): 2483-2493.
2. Ajzen I, Madden T J. Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. J Exp Soc
Psychol. 1986; 22 (5):453-474.
3. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Immersion in water during labor and delivery (Committee Opinion No. 594). Obstet Gynecol. 2014 ;(123):e912–5.
4. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Immersion in water during labor and delivery (Committee Opinion No. 679). Obstet Gynecol. 2016 ;(128):e231–6.
5. American College of Nurse-Midwives. Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice. Silver Spring, MD: American College of NurseMidwives; 2012.
6. Bovbjerg M, Cheyney M, Everson C. Maternal and Newborn Outcomes Following Waterbirth:The Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project, 2004 to 2009 Cohort. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2016; (61):11–20
7. Brown C. Delivered in water: surveillance study and postal survey. Br Med J.1982; (319): 483–487
8. Chan G.J., Labar A.S, Wall S, Atun R. Kangaroo mother care: a systematic review of barriers and enablers. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2016;94(2):130–141.
9. Cooper M, McCutcheon H, Warland J. Water immersion policies and guidelines: How are they informed? Women Birth. 2019; (32): 246–254
10. Cooper M, McCutcheon H, Warland J. They follow the wants and needs of an institution’: Midwives’ views of water immersion. Women Birth. 2020. In press.
11. Cluett ER, Burns E, Cuthbert A. Immersion in water during labour and birth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018; 5(5):CD000111.
12. Davies R, Davis D, Pearce M. The effect of waterbirth on neonatal mortality and morbidity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JBI
Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2015; (10):180-231.
13. Edmonson M. Why water birth? Exploring the barriers and challenges for midwives. MIDIRS Midwifery Digest. 2017;27(4):472–477
14. Evans J, Bell J, Sweeny A. Confidence in Critical Care Nursing. Nurs Sci Q. 2010; 23(4): 334–340
15. Fukada M. Nursing Competency: Definition, Structure and Development. Yonago Acta Medica. 2018;(61):001–007
16. Garland D. Revisiting waterbirth: An attitude to care. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2010.
17. Groves R, Couper M. (1998). Designing Surveys Acknowledging Nonresponse. New York: Wiley; 1998.
18. Harper B. Birth, Bath, and Beyond: The Science and Safety of Water Immersion during Labor and Birth. J Perinat Educ. 2014; 23(3): 124–134.
19. Healy S, Humphreys E, Kennedy C. Midwives’ and obstetricians’ perceptions of risk and its impact on clinical practice and decision-making in labour: An integrative review. Women Birth. 2016; (29): 107–116.
20. Jones L, Othman M, Dowswell T, et al. Pain management for women in labour: an overview of systematic reviews. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;2012(3):CD009234.
21. Kaushik M, Bober B, Eisenfeld L. Case Report of Haemophilus Parainfluenzae Sepsis in a Newborn Infant Following Water Birth and a Review of Literature. AJP Rep. 2015; 5(2):188–192.
22. Kukla A, Ludington-Hoe SM. Value of specialty certification as a Kangaroo Caregiver. J Perinat Educ. 2017; 26(4): 1-10.
23. Lewis L, Hauck Y, Crichton C. The perceptions and experiences of women who achieved and did not achieve a waterbirth. BMC Pregnancy
Childbirth. 2018; (18):23
24. Liu Y, Liu Y, Huang X. A Comparison of Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes between Water Immersion during Labor and Conventional Labor
and Delivery. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014; 6(14):160.
25. Maude R, Kim M. Getting into the water: a prospective observational study of water immersion for labour and birth at a New Zealand
District Health Board. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020; (20):312
26. Meyer S, Weible C, Woeber K. Perceptions and Practice of Waterbirth: A Survey of Georgia Midwives. J Midwifery Women’s Health. 2010; 55(1):55-59
27. Milosevic S, Channon S, Hunter B. Factors influencing the use of birth pools in the United Kingdom: Perspectives of women, midwives and medical staff. Midwifery. 2019 ;(79):1-8.
28. Nicholls S, Hauck Y, Bayes S. Exploring midwives’ perception of confidence around facilitating water birth in Western Australia: A
qualitative descriptive study. Midwifery. 2016; 33: 73–81.
29. Nutter E, Meyer S, Shaw-Battista J. Waterbirth: an integrative analysis of peer-reviewed literature. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2014;59(3):286-319.
30. Nguyen S, Kuschel C, Teele R. Water Birth—a Near-Drowning Experience. Pediatrics. 2002;110 (2) 411-413
31. Odent M. Birth under water. Lancet. 1983;2(8365-66):1476-1477. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(83)90816-4
32. Pinette M, Wax J, Wilson, E. The risks of underwater birth. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2004;190(5):1211-5
33. Preston H, Alfirevic Z, Fowler G. Does Water Birth Affect the Risk of Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injury? Development of a Prognostic Model. Int Urogynecology J. 2019;30(6):909-915.
34. Puente-Fernández D, Mercedes LozanoRomero M, Montoya-Juárez R. Nursing Professionals’ Attitudes, Strategies, and Care
Practices towards Death: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2020; 52(3): 301–310.
35. Russell K, Walsh D, Scott I. Effecting change in midwives' WB practice behaviours on labour ward: An action research study. Midwifery. 2014 ;(30): 96-101.
36. Simpson K. Underwater Birth. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2013; (42): 588-594.
37. Snapp C, Rutledge Stapleton S, Wright J. The experience of land and water birth within the American Association of Birth Centers Perinatal
Data Registry, 2012-2017. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2019; 34(1): 16–26.
38. Stark M, Miller M. Barriers to the Use of Hydrotherapy in Labor. J Obstetric, Gynecologic Neonatal Nursing. 2009; 38(6): 667-675.
39. Stokowski, S. Water birth? Don’t do it. Adv Neonatal Care. 2014; 14(3): 139-141.
40. Strauch L, Sweet L, Scott H. Mechanisms of support for exclusive breastmilk expressers in the community: a scoping review. BMC Pregnancy childbirth. 2019; (19):511.
41. Taylor H, Kleine I, Bewley S. Neonatal outcomes of waterbirth: a systematic review and metaanalysis. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal
Ed.2016; (101):357–365.
42. Ulfsdottir H, Saltvedt S, Georgsson S. Women’s experiences of waterbirth compared with conventional uncomplicated births. Midwifery. 2019; (79):1-7.
43. Ulfsdottir H, Saltvedt S, Georgsson S. Testing the waters — A cross-sectional survey of views about waterbirth among Swedish health
professionals. Women Birth.2020; (33):186-192.
44. Vanderlaan J, Hall P, Lewitt M. Neonatal outcomes with water birth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Midwifery. 2018; (59): 27-38.
45. Wong C, Shorey S, Liew K. A Qualitative Study on Midwives’ Perceptions of Physiologic Birth in Singapore. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2018; 32 (4): 315–323.
46. Wiedenbach E. Clinical Nursing: A Helping Art. New York: Springer; 1964.
47. Young K. Kruske S. How valid are the common concerns raised against water birth? A focused review of the literature. Women
Birth. 2013;26(2):105-9
48. Zhao Y, Xiao M, Tang F. The effect of water immersion delivery on the strength of pelvic
49. floor muscle and pelvic floor disorders during postpartum period an experimental study. Medicine. 2017;(96):41-e8124
50. Kaushik, Harshit, Dilbag Singh, Manjit Kaur, Hammam Alshazly, Atef Zaguia, and Habib Hamam. "Diabetic retinopathy diagnosis from
fundus images using stacked generalization of deep models." IEEE Access 9 (2021): 108276-108292.
51. Singh, Dilbag, Vijay Kumar, Manjit Kaur, Mohamed Yaseen Jabarulla, and Heung-No Lee. "Screening of COVID-19 suspected subjects using multi-crossover genetic algorithm based dense convolutional neural network." IEEE Access 9 (2021): 142566-142580.
52. Kaur, Manjit, and Dilbag Singh. "Multi-modality medical image fusion technique using multiobjective differential evolution based deep neural networks." Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing 12, no. 2 (2021): 2483-2493.
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Feb 11, 2023
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Hannoud Al Moghrabi. (2023). Comprehensive Analyses of Waterbirth Benefits for Mothers and Newborns. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 30(2), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.47750/jptcp.2023.1069
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