Industry and policy
Wading
through
water birth
decisions
A new study investigates
whether midwives are
approving the right
women for water births.
Lucy Lewis interviewed
by Dallas Bastian
M
ost women who plan to give birth in water experience
an uncomplicated vaginal birth, but many who wish to
use the technique do not achieve their aim.
These are some of the key findings of recent research
published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The research team found that 80 per cent of the 502 women
surveyed at Western Australia’s King Edward Memorial Hospital
(KEMH) experienced an uncomplicated birth. Of the 303 women
who went on to labour in water, 59 per cent birthed in water and
41 per cent did not.
The authors said the study suggests midwives are identifying
and approving the right women to labour and birth in water.
Lead author Dr Lucy Lewis from Curtin University and KEMH
said: “This research found that women who were identified
and approved to undertake labour in water were less likely than
those who were not to be transferred to KEMH’s main birth suite,
suggesting the labour had fewer or no complications, and they
were more likely to have a normal or spontaneous vaginal birth.”
But what prevented some women who planned to give birth in
water from doing so?
12 | nursingreview.com.au
Nursing Review spoke with Lewis to learn more about the
outcomes of the women in the study.
NR: What were the aims of this study?
LL: This study set out to assess if we were selecting the right group
of women to birth in water, and to check that the midwives were
following WA statewide evidence-based guidance, in relation to
transferring these women if a complication occurred.
We were also undergoing an assessment as part of the hospital’s
ongoing program to ensure we’re giving the right care to the right
women at the right time. So, we had a number of objectives when
we set out to perform this audit.
Some women who planned to give birth in water did not do
so. What were some of the reasons?
The women we selected, the 500 women that had initially
expressed an interest in labouring or birthing in water, were
all booked in their pregnancy,