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Observational Study
. 2021 Oct 1;138(4):622-626.
doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004545.

Neonatal Outcomes After Delivery in Water

Ariel L Lanier  1 , Samantha L Wiegand, Kathleen Fennig, E Kaye Snow, Rose A Maxwell, David McKenna
Affiliations
Observational Study

Neonatal Outcomes After Delivery in Water

Ariel L Lanier et al. Obstet Gynecol. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions and neonatal outcomes after water birth or land birth in an alternative birthing center.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of preselected low-risk parturients separated into three groups depending on their location for labor and delivery: land-land, water-land, and water-water. Delivery outcomes, labor length, maternal pain assessment, need for newborn resuscitation, and NICU admission and diagnoses were collected. The primary outcome was admission to the NICU.

Results: There were 2,077 total deliveries from April 2015 to December 2019, consisting of 458 land-land deliveries, 730 water-land deliveries, and 889 water-water deliveries. The rate of NICU admission was 2.8% (95% CI 1.5-4.8%) for land-land deliveries, 4.1% (2.8-5.8%) for water-land deliveries, and 2.0% (1.2-3.2%) for water-water deliveries. A post hoc power analysis revealed a 70% power to detect a 2.1% difference in NICU admissions between the water-land and water-water groups.

Conclusion: In this cohort of low-risk pregnant women, births in water and on land were associated with similar rates of admission to the NICU.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial Disclosure David McKenna reports receiving payment from time to time from attorneys for expert witness work on medical malpractice cases; from local hospitals to provide peer review for specific cases; and from Perinatal Resources, Inc. for lectures given at the annual Columbus Board Review course. The other authors did not report any potential conflicts of interest.

References

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