Abstract :
Background: Hydrotherapy, is also called as aquatic or water therapy, and its benefits include improved
muscle strength and endurance, increased joint range of motion and enhanced cardio respiratory functioning
and reduced cardio metabolic risk profile. Utilization of hydrotherapy during labor and child birth is
increasing globally among the educated public. Despite its exclusive benefits, data on its safety and
outcomes are still lacking especially in India. Hence it is the need of the hour for the clinicians to discuss
the potential benefits and safety of water birth and utilize it particularly for women with uncomplicated
pregnancy who prefer physiological childbirth and wish to avoid the use of pharmacological pain relief
methods.
Objectives: To assess and validate about the maternal and neonatal outcomes of hydrobirthing from a series
of parturients who volunteered for the utilization of hydrotherapy during labor and childbirth.
Materials and Methods: This case series consist of 26 out of 33 pregnant women who opted for
hydrobirthing between 1 December 2015 and 31 April 2019 at a tertiary care hospital with NABH
accreditation. Booked cases with uncomplicated pregnancy and who were on regular antenatal check
up, with gestational age >37 consent. The dataset was limited to vaginal delivery following spontaneous labor and included pre-specified
outcomes such as labor pain, perineal tear , episiotomy, post partum hemorrhage (PPH), temperature
after delivery and apgar scores of the new born to evaluate the maternal and fetal outcomes following
hydrotherapy and the results were discussed.
Conclusions: The present case series on hydro birthing has demonstrated that it is one among the safe
natural mode of labor without any serious maternal and neonatal complications. Further study on a large
scale with evaluation of long-term outcomes would help to generalise the observed outcomes of the present
study.
Keyword :
Water birth, Delivery, Childbirth, Labor, Hydrotherapy, Birth options.