Papers

Water birth and infection in babies

Departments of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Microbiology, North Middlesex Hospital, London N18 1QX Correspondence to: Dr Shah.

Water births are becoming more popular among mothers and midwives because the buoyancy of water and the warmth of the water used in such births promotes "natural" labour while providing a non-invasive, safe, and effective form of pain management.¹ Concern has been expressed, however, about contamination of the birthing tub system (the tub and its accessories) with bacteria that could cause infection in a baby. Virulent bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae have been reported in water pumps and heating systems,² filling hoses of the tub,³ and water in the tubs.⁴ Nevertheless, we do not know of any reports of a baby becoming infected owing to a water birth. We report on a newborn baby who developed pseudomonas sepsis after water birth.

Case report

A full term baby boy, weighing 3600 g, was born in the birthing tub of the labour ward of our . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Underwater birth and neonatal respiratory distress

Zainab Kassim, Maria Sellars, and Anne Greenough
BMJ 2005 330: 1071-1072. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Water birth and infection in babies

P Sanderson
BMJ 1994 309: 806. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Foran, A, Cinnante, C, Groves, A, Azzopardi, D V, Rutherford, M A, Cowan, F M (2009). Patterns of brain injury and outcome in term neonates presenting with postnatal collapse. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 94: F168-F177 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Kassim, Z., Sellars, M., Greenough, A. (2005). Underwater birth and neonatal respiratory distress. BMJ 330: 1071-1072 [Full text]  
• Committee on Fetus and Newborn, 2004-2005, , Batton, D. G., Blackmon, L. R., Adamkin, D. H., Bell, E. F., Denson, S. E., Engle, W. A., Martin, G. I., Stark, A. R., Barrington, K. J., Raju, T. N.K., Riley, L., Tomashek, K. M., Wallman, C., Couto, J. (2005). Underwater Births. Pediatrics 115: 1413-1414 [Full text]  
• Bowden, K., Kessler, D., Pinette, M., Wilson, E. (2003). Underwater Birth: Missing the Evidence or Missing the Point?. Pediatrics 112: 972-973 [Full text]  
• Nguyen, S., Kuschel, C., Teele, R., Spooner, C. (2002). Water Birth--A Near-Drowning Experience. Pediatrics 110: 411-413 [Full text]  
• Vochem, M., Vogt, M., Doring, G. (2001). Sepsis in a Newborn Due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a Contaminated Tub Bath. NEJM 345: 378-379 [Full text]  
• Gilbert, R. E, Tookey, P. A (1999). Perinatal mortality and morbidity among babies delivered in water: surveillance study and postal survey. BMJ 319: 483-487 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Parker, P. C., Boles, R. G. (1997). Pseudomonas Otitis Media and Bacteremia Following a Water Birth. Pediatrics 99: 653-654 [Full text]  
• Levy, R, Hindley, D T, Burman, R, Haider, S A, Blease, J (1995). Unusual cause of pseudomonal infection. BMJ 310: 258c-258 [Full text]  
• Sanderson, P (1994). Water birth and infection in babies. BMJ 309: 806-806 [Full text]