A midwife for every woman giving birth who stays with her the entire time - this is only the case in a few delivery rooms in Germany. According to a study, most women giving birth would come to their baby with the same security without a doctor and major interventions.
Düsseldorf (dpa) - According to a study, a birth in the delivery room only with an experienced midwife and without a doctor is safe and on average is faster. Usually even fewer painkillers are used.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Health, Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU), presented these results from the research project "Midwifery Ward" at the University of Bonn.
For the study, which was funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with around 380,000 euros, all 612 midwife-led births at the University Hospital Bonn from 2010 to 2017 were analyzed. Laumann reported that it was the first university clinic in Germany to introduce the model eleven years ago. "The study shows: Birth in a midwifery delivery room is safe," Laumann summarized the most important result.
Less surgical interventions and epidural anesthesia
The offer is aimed at healthy pregnant women with an inconspicuous course of pregnancy who could expect an uncomplicated birth. This means, for example: the women are only pregnant with one child and the baby's head is down - not in the breech position. Multiples are per se risk pregnancies, explained Waltraut Merz, lecturer in gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Bonn. A doctor is always present even for premature babies.
According to the State Center for Health in North Rhine-Westphalia (LZG), the study proves that women giving birth who still need medical care from a midwife-run delivery room do not have more complications in newborns or their mothers than in any other case. Compared to the control group, surgical interventions were carried out less often - also fewer perineal incisions and epidural anesthesia (PDA).
More time to give birth
The scientist's practical explanation: midwives give women more time during a normal birth. A doctor who was called in, on the other hand, was more prepared to intervene, said Merz. Another observation made by the expert: around half of the women giving birth in the midwifery delivery room also opt for an PDA. "The women want the best of both worlds: both super care and an extremely effective method of pain relief," reported Merz.
The Düsseldorf midwife Victoria Herrmann also sees advantages for the mother-child bond: "Through intensive midwifery support, women develop fewer fears, so that women enter the motherhood phase much more positively and self-confidently".
Nationwide only 23 offers
Laumann advocated offering the model on a much larger scale in order to support women in their desire for a low-intervention birth on their own. According to the LZG, only 23 such offers are currently available nationwide (as of 2019).
Nine clinics in North Rhine-Westphalia introduced the model. There are midwifery delivery rooms in Bad Oeynhausen, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Gütersloh, Herdecke, Cologne, Oberhausen, Paderborn and Velbert. In 2017, fewer than five percent of all 153 obstetrics clinics in North Rhine-Westphalia offered the concept, although it was suitable for everyone, the LZG found.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200824-99-287016 / 3
Communication on the project from the LZG