------Program code: NS-080908-02315 (what's this?)
Source: CCTV.com
09-08-2008 11:02
A pregnant woman has two main options for delivering her baby – natural delivery and cesarean section. But now there is a third way.
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Miu Shixia is a doctor with the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the No. 12 People’s Hospital in Guangzhou. In 2006, she established a water birth center in Guangdong Province. On October the 14th of the same year, she oversaw her first successful water birth.
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On October the 10th, 2006, with her time almost due, Fu Bo asked for a water birth at the No. 12 Hospital. No one had ever tried it before in Guangzhou.
France was the first country where a baby was delivered in water. It happened in 1803, when the expectant mother was tired. She decided to take a hot bath, and delivered her baby there.
Several hundred women have successfully given birth in the sea. In the United States, 6,000 water births had been recorded by the late 1980s. As for the number of hospitals offering water births in the United States, it has increased from ten in 1995 to 150 now.
Before she set up her water birth centre, Miu Shixia spent a long time researching the concept.
Miu Shixia first came into contact with water birth on a trip abroad. She thought it could be used in China. It took her six months, from getting the idea of establishing a water birth center to submitting an application.
Until then, the two means of delivery had been the natural vaginal delivery, and cesarean section, which involved surgically removing the baby from the mother's body. Many women facing labour are so fearful of the pain of a natural delivery that they choose cesarean section.
Cesarean section, although it is less painful than natural delivery, causes the loss of up to three times more blood. It takes a long time for a woman to recover from a cesarean section. In addition, cesarean sections can have a number of side-effects, including endometriosis, abnormal menstruation and dysmenorrhoea. A more serious consequence of cesarean section is that the woman will have greater difficulty preventing pregnancy again than those who have had a natural delivery.
Both forms of delivery made Fu Bo fearful of the pain involved. So she decided to try a water birth.
Miu Shixia has been an obstetrician for over 20 years. A main focus of her work in that time has been easing the pain women suffer in childbirth. A baby feels more comfortable being born into water, which feels similar to the amniotic fluid inside its mother. In addition, a water birth tends not to last so long, which reduces the potential danger to mother and baby. However, Fu Bo’s decision to go ahead with a water birth was opposed by her parents, who didn’t think it was safe.
To convince her parents, Fu took them to the hospital to watch the video on water birth.
Water birth is a form of natural delivery in which the expectant mother sits in a bathtub full of warm, sterilized water. The water is warm so that the mother feels relaxed. The buoyancy also softens her muscles, so that she can focus more energy on her uterine contractions. This reduces the time taken by the birth. A further advantage is that the mother can move more freely and change positions more easily than she can in a delivery bed. This helps make her pelvis softer and her cervix dilate. All-in-all, the baby’s passage through the birth canal is facilitated. But, as Miu Shixia knows, water birth also involves risks.
Generally there are three things people worry about, concerning water births. One is that the water may cause an infection. The second is that because water birth doesn’t necessitate any surgical cut in the perineum, the perineum may be torn. Third, the baby may drown.
Gynecologists and obstetricians in New Zealand discovered that during water birth, some babies almost drowned; others had difficulty breathing. They also found that blood and discharge from the mother sometimes infected the baby.
Miu Shixia saw to it that Fu Bo attended study sessions about water birth and watched videos while she was in hospital. Fu found herself looking forward confidently to her expected date of delivery.
Editor:Yang
