Article
Healthy Birth Practice #4: Avoid Interventions Unless They Are Medically Necessary.
Journal of Perinatal Education
(2013)
Abstract
Maternity care in the United States is intervention intensive. The routine use of intravenous fluids, restrictions on eating and drinking, continuous electronic fetal monitoring, epidural analgesia, and augmentation of labor characterize most U.S. births. The use of episiotomy is far from restrictive. These interventions disturb the normal physiology of labor and birth and restrict women’s ability to cope with labor. The result is a cascade of interventions that increase risk, including the risk of cesarean surgery, for women and babies. This article is an updated evidence-based review of the “Lamaze International Care Practices That Promote Normal Birth, Care Practice #4: No Routine Interventions,” published in The Journal of Perinatal Education, 16(3), 2007.
Keywords
- intravenous fluids in labor,
- restrictions on eating and drinking in labor,
- electronic fetal monitoring,
- augmentation of labor,
- epidural analgesia,
- episiotomy,
- cascade of interventions,
- cesarean surgery,
- optimal care
Disciplines
Publication Date
December 31, 2013
DOI
10.1891/1058-1243.23.4.198
Citation Information
Judith A. Lothian. "Healthy Birth Practice #4: Avoid Interventions Unless They Are Medically Necessary." Journal of Perinatal Education Vol. 23 Iss. 4 (2013) p. 198 - 206 ISSN: 1548-8519 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/judith-lothian/14/