Research results on use of water for women in slow labour.

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Midwife Elizabeth Cluett and multidisciplinary colleagues in Southampton, UK, have published the results of a randomised control trial showing that water immersion to address slow labour in nulliparous women reduced the need for syntocinon augmentation and for epidural analgesia.

The researchers point out that slow progress in the first stage of labour occurs in 20% of nulliparous women and is given as a reason for 20% of Caesarean sections and 40% of instrumental deliveries. For women at low risk of complications, it often marks the transition from midwifery to obstetric management.

Labouring in water under...