Old Wives Help Ease Pain Of Childbirth

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday January 3, 2008

Kate Benson Medical Reporter

THEY cost less than 20 cents each and can reduce pain in childbirth by up to 25 per cent but most hospitals are not using them because they are mocked as the stuff of old wives' tales.

Pads soaked in warm water, first documented by the Greek philosopher Aristotle more than 2300 years ago and used for centuries by midwives to reduce pain during the second stage of labour, could soon make a comeback in delivery wards across Sydney thanks to a seven-year study at Royal Prince Alfred and Canterbury hospitals.

More than 700 first-time mothers participated in the trial, run by the secretary of the NSW Midwives Association, Hannah Dahlen, with the results proving "sometimes old wives know best".

The study, published in the international journal Birth, found that when a warm cloth or pad was applied to a woman's perineum as the baby's head began pressing on it, tearing was significantly reduced, women reported a 50 per cent reduction in urinary incontinence and were more likely to resume sex within six to 12 weeks after the birth.

The use of warm packs had no effect on the number of women who required suturing after birth, but significantly reduced the severity of perineal tears.

"This should be available in every hospital for all births," Ms Dahlen said. "We're talking about a jug of hot water and a cloth which can bring significant benefits to women in pain. In my opinion, it is unethical to withhold it. The sad thing is that if there was a medication out there with no side effects that could do this, then pharmaceutical companies would be marketing it like mad, but because this has always been considered an old wives' tale, it gets ignored."

Ms Dahlen said 80 per cent of midwives involved in the study felt the pads reduced perineal pain, 91 per cent liked using them and 93 per cent said they would use them again, while 80 per cent of mothers said their pain had been reduced and 86 per cent would use them again and recommend them to their friends.

"So many simple techniques are lost because a machine that goes ping is always considered better," Ms Dahlen said. "Squeezing three or four kilos out of a very small hole is extremely scary for most women. If we can take the edge off the pain with something as simple as a jug of water, we need to be offering it."