doulicia's news from Paris

I did not expect an impulsive trip to Paris to have much birth content. I was wrong. Hype was building everywhere for the October 31 opening of a documentary, Le Premier Cri. I couldn't go through a Metro without seeing posters for the movie. And somewhere -- though I have no recollection of being anywhere there was a television -- I saw a trailer for it. Women around the world in the final days of pregnancy and then giving birth. I wish we'd been there one day longer and I could have seen it!

I will admit to being suspicious of the fact that it's a Disney release...

In catching up on news when I returned, I see that one study has confirmed what so many of us know: laboring in the hands and knees position is a good way to relieve back pain. Using the position late in pregnancy is not, apparently, influential in turning a posterior baby. The researchers did not reach any conclusions on the position's usefulness turning posterior babies in labor.

And in other news, amniotomy (or AROM or intentionally breaking a woman's water) was found NOT to be effective in reducing labor time. However,

[t]he report, published Oct. 17 in The Cochrane Reviews, did find that the procedure might be associated with an increase in Caesarean sections and a reduced risk of a lower reading on the Apgar scale, which rates the baby’s condition at birth. But neither finding was statistically significant. [emphasis added]

The C-section link is worth exploring more, don't we think? And regardless, spread this word from the study's lead investigator:

We advise women whose labors are progressing normally to request their waters be left intact. There is no evidence that leaving the waters intact causes any problems, and there is not sufficient evidence to suggest any benefit to either themselves or their baby.