Hospitals re-examine common delivery room practices

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, hospitals are conceiving new programs to make childbirth safer, amid mounting evidence that overuse of labor-inducing drugs for preterm deliveries and other common practices are endangering both mothers and infants.

Hospital groups are now adopting policies to discourage or prohibit births induced before the minimum 39 weeks recommended by experts, unless medically necessary. They are curtailing the use of drugs such as the hormone oxytocin to start or speed-up contractions which in too-high doses can lead to ruptures of the uterus, fetal distress and even death of an infant. They are also limiting the use of forceps and vacuums that can help coax babies from the birth canal but also lead to injuries such as fractures and nerve damage.

Statistics show that elective inductions may account for a third or more of all induced births in some hosptials, even though delivering babies even a few days early is asociated with higher rates of emergency Caesarean deliveries, admissions to the neonatal intensive-care unit with respiratory distress and other problems, and longer-term health issues for children.

Bonnie - as I have said many times, childbirth should not be offered as an elective procedure. If medically necessary, of course. A baby will come out when it is ready. It goes against the entiring birthing process to force a baby out before it is time (once again, unless medically necessary) and can cause adverse effects, as referenced in the above article. It is refreshing to hear that OB-GYN's are starting to realize this and are going back to the way nature planned it!