What is the optimal maternal position in the second stage of labor?

Summary of a presentation by Leah Albers, CNM, DrPH ath the 46th ACNM Annual Meeting

in response to the debate on "Good Morning America"

Most women experience significant pain during labor and birth, and most American women want and expect to receive some form of pharmacologic pain relief. Epidurals are the most effective method.

Once thought to be a beneficial procedure that would make birth easier for the baby and protect the mother from trauma to the birth canal, episiotomy has been found in study after study to be more harmful than beneficial except in a few cases.  Yet, it continues to be practiced routinely in many hospitals in the U.S. and around the world. 

The relaxation and pain-relieving benefits of water are well-known; many women who have had babies in and out of water will attest to this.

Hypnosis has played a part in obstetrics since around the 1930's. It is not used only with the labor and the birth but also for many problems in the pregnancy such as morning sickness, backaches, insomnia, and fatigue.

For midwives and families preparing for an out-of-hospital birth, gathering the necessary equipment and supplies is crucial. 

In an original study, researchers in Malaysia found that women who reported having sexual intercourse during the last month of pregnancy were more likely to go into labor before 41 weeks gestation and to avoid labor induction than women who did not have intercourse.  

April 19-21, 2007; Las Vegas, Nevada; sponsored by Symposia Medicus.