BMJ  2005;330:1071-1072 (7 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7499.1071

Clinical review

Lesson of the week

Underwater birth and neonatal respiratory distress

¹ Department of Child Health, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, ² Department of Radiology, King's College Hospital, London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

In 1992 the House of Commons Select Health Committee's report on maternity services recommended that all hospitals should provide women with the "option of a birthing pool where this is practicable."¹ A subsequent surveillance study of all NHS maternity units between 1994 and 1996 found that 0.6% of all deliveries in England and Wales occurred in water.² Rawal and colleagues have suggested that water births have become popular among mothers and midwives because the buoyancy and warmth of the water promotes natural labour while providing a non-invasive safe and effective form of pain management.³ Practitioners and parents should remember, however, that birthing pools pose potential risks for the baby. We report on a newborn baby who developed respiratory distress due to aspiration after an underwater birth.

Case report

A full term male infant weighing 3150 g was born in the birthing pool of the labour ward of our hospital. His mother was . . . [Full text of this article]

Discussion

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Datta, A., Tipton, M. (2006). Respiratory responses to cold water immersion: neural pathways, interactions, and clinical consequences awake and asleep. J. Appl. Physiol. 100: 2057-2064 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Cluett, E., McCandlish, R., Burns, E., Nikodem, C. (2005). Underwater birth and neonatal respiratory distress: Case report does not constitute reliable evidence. BMJ 330: 1447-1448 [Full text]  

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