HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 04-22 Twin Cities' other hospitals not following Allina's lead on water births PIONEER PRESS4/11/2016
Twin Cities' other hospitals not following A Iina's lead on water births
Twin Cities' other hospitals not following Allina's lead on
water births
April 22, 2014 1 UPDATED: 2 years ago
While Allina Health System plans to suspend water births — underwater deliveries that proponents say
help women better cope with labor pain — no other Twin Cities hospitals report they plan to follow suit.
Allina announced on its website last week that it would stop allowing women to deliver in water tubs at all
its sites, including United Hospital in St. Paul, Regina Hospital in Hastings and Abbot Northwestern
Hospital in Minneapolis.
The decision follows an opinion that water births should be considered experimental, issued this month
by two physician groups — the obstetrics committee of American Academy of Pediatrics and the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The opinion piece, published in this month's journal of Pediatrics, recognizes that during early labor,
sitting in a warm tub can relieve pain and shorten labor, but it argues no evidence exists that delivering
underwater is safe or beneficial. Following the recommendation, Allina will allow water births only as part
of a clinical trial. No such trials are underway.
"Allina Health is working on a plan to offer water births in the future with practices that are consistent with
current guidance and as safe as possible," the health system said on its website. "In addition, Allina
Health will offer assistance to researchers who are interested and qualified to develop approved clinical
trial protocols for water birth deliveries."
David Kanihan, an Allina spokesman, said Tuesday that women still can go through labor in water but
can't deliver their babies in a tub.
Other hospitals, for now, will still offer the alternative birthing method to women with low-risk pregnancies
who meet other criteria.
Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center will offer water birth as an option "when medically
appropriate," according to a spokeswoman. Regions Hospital, which is part of HealthPartners, had
between four and five water births a month last year and will continue to offer them, as will Hennepin
County Medical Center in Minneapolis, which was the first in the region to offer water births in 1999.
HealthEast hospitals have a long track record with underwater births.
"We're continuing to do them," says Cecilia Wachdorf, director of HealthEast Nurse Midwives. Members
of that organization deliver babies at the three HealthEast hospitals: St. Joseph's Hospital in downtown
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4/11/2016
Twin Cities' other hospitals not following A Iina's lead on water births
St. Paul, Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury and St. John's Hospital in Maplewood.
Although family physicians and obstetricians oversee hospital water births, the vast majority are
attended by a certified nurse midwife. Wachdorf said midwives deliver nearly 1,000 of the 6,000 babies
born annually at HealthEast hospitals. Of those, 13 percent to 18 percent are water births.
A response statement released by the American College of Nurse -Midwives noted that 31,000
underwater births have been reported in studies worldwide. It calls water birth, or hydrotherapy, "a safe
and effective nonpharmacologic pain relief strategy" and disputes the conclusion that there isn't enough
evidence to support its safety. The statement noted that women with low-risk pregnancies "have
comparable maternal and neonatal outcomes whether or not they give birth in water."
"We're all obviously pretty surprised by the statement," said Tracy O'Brien, a midwife at West Side
Community Health Services in St. Paul and secretary of the Minnesota affiliate of the American College
of Nurse Midwives. "From our position, it's taking away what should be a viable option for women.
"I also think you will be hard-pressed to prove it's completely safe. Epidurals aren't 100 percent safe, yet
people get them every day and nobody blinks an eye. Cesareans have risks, but they get done every
day. So, is this in the best interest of women? I don't think so."
One positive result of the opinion piece, O'Brien said, will be the greater scrutiny of water births and
even more research on outcomes.
For more information on Allina's decision, go to a. irn , .h..,,c�rg/ re nancycare.
Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479. Maja Beckstrom can be reached at 651-228-
5295.
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