Hydrotherapy and water birth, sink or swim? :a review on the safety and efficacy of water therapy practices in labor and delivery units

Abstract

Natural birth without medical interventions has been the norm until the last century. As birth became hospitalized, the very way laboring mothers were treated changed. Various aspects of labor and delivery became a safety concern in an effort to improve maternal and fetal outcomes. New practices therefore, must be heavily researched before they can be implemented in these hospital units. Hydrotherapy, though not an entirely new practice, is an upcoming addition to many hospital labor and delivery units. However, this practice is widely controversial as to the safety and efficacy of the practice for both the mother and newborn. In this paper, four main criteria for positive maternal outcomes will be reviewed: duration of labor, perception of pain, degree of perineal laceration, and rate of post-partum infection.