New Program Encouraging Women Not to Push During Labour Sees Amazing Results
Labour can have many stages when it comes time for a woman to give birth. When it’s time to push, mum’s know the birth of their baby is in sight and it can be excruciating, yet breathtaking, knowing a baby is about to make their appearance.
But one U.K. hospital has started a new program where medical staff are encouraged NOT to tell the mum-to-be to push.
The Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent introduced the program in their labour ward after the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives put out a call for action to decrease perineal tearing. Nearly 14,000 women had experienced perineal tearing in 2013 and 2014, hence the call out for medical wards to look at ways to reduce these birth injuries.
The hospital trialed the program for 12 months and found severe tearing in women was decreased from 7% to 1%. The reason for the results was from medical staff who simply stopped asking the women to push when they were in labour.
The new guidelines encouraged women to try alternative positions during labour instead of the normal laying on their back position. Nurses also coached the women to breathe through their labour rather than push.
The program also discouraged midwives from pulling the baby out once the shoulders emerged. Instead the baby’s weight would be supported, to reduce the pressure on the perineum. When the baby crowned, a hand would be placed against the perineum to offer counterpressure and support to that area, preventing it to tear.
The results have been published in the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology. There are plans for the program to be rolled out nationally in the UK due to the successful results.
While medical staff may not be surprised by the results, the reduction in perineal tears is good news for women. As those who have suffered from tearing know, it can be uncomfortable to deal with when learning to nurse and mother a new baby.
