The effectiveness of relaxation classes for childbirth questioned
May 29, 2009
New research to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports that specialist pre-pregnancy preparation for women and their partners, emphasising practical training in breathing, relaxation and massage techniques, and aimed at promoting ‘natural’ childbirth, produced no measureable outcome benefits over the standard classes offered at antenatal clinics in Sweden.
1, 087 first-time mothers and 1, 064 of their partners took part in the study by the Department for Woman and Child Health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden between January 2006 and May 2007. They were recruited from across Sweden and randomised into two groups to attend specifically-tailored antenatal classes.
The ‘natural’ group focused on teaching the women and their partners psychoprophylaxis (relaxation, breathing and psychological coping techniques). The standard care group were provided with information about childbirth and parenting, modelled on the standard Swedish antenatal education programme.
Researchers hypothesised that participants in the ‘natural’ group would have lower rates of epidural analgesia, a more positive overall experience of childbirth, but higher levels of parental stress, as the classes did not prepare them for parenthood. The main outcome measures were therefore the use of epidurals during labour, and the recorded experience of childbirth and parental stress.
Researchers found that the experiences of childbirth and stress were similar in the two groups. The epidural rate was 52% and the spontaneous vaginal birth rate 66% in both groups. The caesarean section rate was 20% in the ‘natural’ group and 21.5% in the standard group. The instrumental delivery rate was 14% in the ‘natural’ group and 12% in the standard group. There were also no statistically significant differences between the groups in the satisfaction of the childbirth experience or postnatal parental stress (measured at three months).
Entry Filed under: England, Maternity Services, Northern Ireland, Parliamentary update, Pregnancy and birth, Scotland, Wales. Tags: antenatal classes, BJOG, breathing, childbirth, epidural, NCT, psychoprophylaxis, relaxation.
1 Comment Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Belinda Phipps, NCT | May 29, 2009 at 10:49 am
This limited study in Sweden compares two slightly different types of antenatal education and does not look at the more common situation in the UK which is no or limited antenatal preparation.
Testing to see whether breathing and relaxation techniques alongside antenatal preparation have an effect on birth outcomes is a tall order – they are only one small part of antenatal education.
A more useful study would have been to look at the impact of antenatal education and improvements in service delivery both together and separately to truly be able to disentangle the effect of education and the effect of the way services are delivered.
NCT antenatal classes are valued by parents and cover many topics including parenting, baby feeding, physical skills for labour and information about the birth as well as relaxation and breathing. Our aim is to improve the confidence of parents (men and women), help them develop a supportive peer group, provide information to deal with the ways the health service will support them during the birth, and be part of the process of improving the chance of a woman having the kind of birth she wants.