ISSN:
1471-0528
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Objective— To determine whether nulliparae whose second stage of labour is conducted in an obstetric birth chair have a lower incidence of instrumental delivery than those using a conventional delivery bed.Design— Randomized controlled trial using sealed, opaque envelopes for allocation.Setting— Delivery ward in a busy teaching hospital.Patients— 1250 nulliparae with a singleton live fetus with cephalic presentation, without epidural anaesthesia, who had achieved full dilatation.Intervention— Intention to conduct second and third stages of labour in either the Birth-EZ chair or the conventional delivery bed, as randomly allocated.Main outcome measures— Primary measure: vaginal operative delivery; principal secondary measures: duration of second stage, perineal trauma, blood loss, women's views, and neonatal status.Results— Delivery in the birth chair did not result in a reduction in operative delivery, overall. However, there was a reduction in vaginal operative delivery for fetal heart rate abnormality. There was no beneficial effect on perineal trauma or puerperal perineal pain. Post-partum haemorrhage was more frequent in the birth chair group.Conclusions— Delivery in the birth chair does not offer any obvious advantage to women over delivery on a bed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1991.tb13453.x
