How to increase the chances of a natural birth…

Interventions during labour and childbirth are on the rise but a large proportion of pregnant women would like a natural birth but are concerned about pain relief.  Against this back drop, a recent randomised control trial looked at the effectiveness of a two day birth preparation course  in supporting natural birth.

The birth preparation course attended by both the pregnant women and their birthing partners, covered the standard medical advice and self-administered complementary therapies including

  • visualisation, breathing, massage and yoga to enhance relaxation
  • yoga and acupressure to facilitate labour progression
  • breathing, yoga and acupressure to aid pain relief

Those in the control group received the standard medical care advice.  In total 176 women took part in the trail.

The results showed a reduction in the use of epidurals and caesarean section in the intervention group when compared to the control group.

This trail shows clear evidence of the benefits of complementary therapies to support natural childbirth.

Reference

Levett KM, Smith CA, Bensoussan A, et al (2016). Complementary Therapies for Labour and birth study: a randomised control trial of antenatale integrative medicine for pain management in labour, BMJ Open 2016

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