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Just Say “No” to Hospital Admission in Early Labor
If this is your first baby, unless you have a medical condition that warrants closer monitoring, you don’t want to be in the hospital until you are in active labor. Let’s look at why admission in early labor could theoretically be a problem and the evidence supporting that, in fact, it is one....
Should Labor Be Induced Immediately with Term Prelabor Rupture of Membranes?
Here's an oldy-but-goody guest post I did for Lamaze's "Connecting the Dots" in which I deconstructed a large randomized controlled trial concluding that labor should be induced if membranes ruptured at term and labor didn't begin shortly thereafter.
Does Progesterone Prevent Recurrent Preterm Birth?
In 2011, the FDA granted preliminary approval to progesterone injections (trade name: Makena) to prevent recurrent preterm birth, and it has been widely prescribed for this purpose ever since. Was that approval warranted? What has happened since? I’ll take you through the story in this post. To...
Do Epidurals Increase Cesareans?
If you ask most doctors and more than a few midwives whether epidurals increase cesareans, the answer will be a hard “No,” followed by, “Research evidence has shown that they don’t.” I’m here to say, “Not so fast.” I think we have equally strong evidence that they do. Let’s look at the case for...
Water Immersion During Labor & Birth Found Safe and Beneficial
If laboring in warm water or water birth sounds appealing, I have good news. A large review combining data from multiple studies found labor and birth in a deep tub or birthing pool to be safe and beneficial. Let’s look at the details. Summary of the Review What did the reviewers want to know? The...
Take Charge of Your Birth
The first in Henci’s new Take Charge of Your Birth Series, Labor Pain: What’s Your Best Strategy? delivers up-to-date access to the best medical research plus practical strategies for developing your plan and putting it into action. Also available in audiobook.
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