BMJ  2004;328:768 (27 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7442.768-a

Letter

Labouring in water

Cover wrongly said study was about giving birth in water

EDITOR—The study by Cluett et al reinforces anecdotal experience that allowing a woman in labour to have a good soak in a deep bath will relieve pain and facilitate labour.¹ Indeed, it is a shame that the traditional big bath has been removed from the labour ward.

However, readers will have been misled by the headline on the cover of the BMJ—"Giving birth in water." The study is about labouring in water, not delivery. I don't know how many of the women chose to deliver in the water bath, but from my quick scan through the paper I do not think that this was the intention. I note that there was a mean delay of six hours (range 2-10 hours) between women leaving the pool and giving birth.

This study is on water immersion as an option for women in the first stage of labour, not about delivery in water.

Inverclyde Royal Hospital, Greenock PA16 0XN robinsjim{at}aol.com

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Competing interests: None declared.

References

1. Cluett ER, Pickering RM, Getliffe K, Saunders NJ. Randomised controlled trial of labouring in water compared with standard of augmentation for management of dystocia in first stage of labour. BMJ 2004;328: 314. (7 February.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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Related Article

Randomised controlled trial of labouring in water compared with standard of augmentation for management of dystocia in first stage of labour

Elizabeth R Cluett, Ruth M Pickering, Kathryn Getliffe, and Nigel James St George Saunders
BMJ 2004 328: 314. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]