Supporting Healthy and Normal Physiologic Childbirth

… a consensus statement by ACNM (American College of Nurse Midwives), MANA (Midwives Alliance of North America) and NACPM (National Association of Certified Professional Midwieves). In 1996, the World Health Organization called for the elimination of unnecessary intervention in childbirth, yet currently there are few resources to assist maternity care providers in achieving this goal. The purpose of this consensus statement is to explicitly identify key benchmarks of safe, healthy, and normal physiologic childbirth. This statement will assist maternity care providers, women, policymakers, and payers to protect, promote, and support human childbearing physiology and to avoid overuse of interventions, thus achieving better care, better health, and lower costs….

This statement is placed in the context of the current, widespread application of technological interventions that lack scientific evidence to a primarily healthy birthing population. The use of obstetric interventions in labor and birth has become the norm in the United States. More than half of all pregnant women receive synthetic oxytocin to induce or augment labor, which demands additional interventions to monitor, prevent, or treat side effects. Nationally, one third of women deliver their babies via cesarean, a major abdominal surgery with potential for serious short- and long-term health consequences. For the mothers these consequences include, but are not limited to, postoperative infections, chronic pain, future cesarean births, and placental complications that can lead to hemorrhage, hysterectomy, and rarely, death. Infant risks include respiratory distress, and in subsequent pregnancies maternal risks include increased likelihood of preterm birth and associated morbidity and mortality. Regardless of intervention or outcome, childbearing care perceived by the woman as disrespectful or traumatic is more likely to be associated with maternal psychological morbidity and potential for disrupted mother-infant attachment.

Our bi-weekly Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them. From Center for the Childbearing Year.

Posted by Patty Brennan on July 6, 2012 • Filed under Birth & Parenting News
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