ACNM Position statement: Hydrotherapy during labor and birth. 2014.
ACOG Committee Opinion No 766: Approaches to Limit Intervention During Labor and Birth. Obstet Gynecol. 2019 Feb;133(2):e164-e173. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003074.
Bovbjerg ML, Cheyney M, Everson C Maternal and Newborn Outcomes Following Waterbirth: The Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project, 2004 to 2009 Cohort. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2016 Jan-Feb;61(1):11-20. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.12394. Epub 2016 Jan 20.
Burns EE, Boulton MG, Cluett E, Cornelius VR, Smith LA Characteristics, interventions, and outcomes of women who used a birthing pool: a prospective observational study. Birth. 2012 Sep;39(3):192-202. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-536X.2012.00548.x. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
Cluett ER, Burns E, Cuthbert A Immersion in water during labour and birth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 May 16;5(5):CD000111. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000111.pub4.
Cluett ER, Burns E Immersion in water in labour and birth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Apr 15;(2):CD000111. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000111.pub3.
Committee Opinion No 679: Immersion in Water During Labor and Delivery. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Nov;128(5):e231-e236. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001771.
Dahlen HG, Dowling H, Tracy M, Schmied V, Tracy S Maternal and perinatal outcomes amongst low risk women giving birth in water compared to six birth positions on land. A descriptive cross sectional study in a birth centre over 12 years. Midwifery. 2013 Jul;29(7):759-64. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2012.07.002. Epub 2012 Aug 11.
Davies R, Davis D, Pearce M, Wong N The effect of waterbirth on neonatal mortality and morbidity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2015 Oct;13(10):180-231. doi: 10.11124/jbisrir-2015-2105.
Duffin C Waterbirth findings reveal high levels of satisfaction: Royal College of Midwives annual conference reflects a further move away from medical interventions towards. Nursing Standard. 2004 May 26;18(37):8-9.
Fehervary P, Lauinger-Lorsch E, Hof H, Melchert F, Bauer L, Zieger W Water birth: microbiological colonisation of the newborn, neonatal and maternal infection rate in comparison to conventional bed deliveries. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2004 Jul;270(1):6-9. doi: 10.1007/s00404-002-0467-4. Epub 2003 Sep 3.
Geissbühler V, Eberhard, J Waterbirths: A Comparative Study-A Prospective Study on More than 2,000 Waterbirths. Obstetrical & gynecological survey, 2001. 56(5): 260-262.
Ghasemi, M, Tara, F , Ashraf, H. Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Complications of Water-Birth Compared with Conventional Delivery. The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility. 2013; 16(70):9-15.
Gilbert RE, Tookey PA Perinatal mortality and morbidity among babies delivered in water: surveillance study and postal survey. BMJ. 1999 Aug 21;319(7208):483-7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7208.483.
Hollins Martin CJ, Martin CR Development and psychometric properties of the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R). Midwifery. 2014 Jun;30(6):610-9. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2013.10.006. Epub 2013 Oct 24.
Karimi, Laleh Personal correspondence. (August 2019).
Maude RM, Foureur MJ It's beyond water: stories of women's experience of using water for labour and birth. Women Birth. 2007 Mar;20(1):17-24. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2006.10.005. Epub 2006 Dec 14.
Nikodem VC The effects of water birth: a randomised controlled trail. Thesis: Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa
Nutter E, Meyer S, Shaw-Battista J, Marowitz A Waterbirth: an integrative analysis of peer-reviewed literature. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2014 May-Jun;59(3):286-319. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.12194.
Odent M Birth under water. Lancet. 1983 Dec 24-31;2(8365-66):1476-7. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)90816-4. No abstract available.
Shaw-Battista J Systematic Review of Hydrotherapy Research: Does a Warm Bath in Labor Promote Normal Physiologic Childbirth? J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2017 Oct/Dec;31(4):303-316. doi: 10.1097/JPN.0000000000000260.
Taylor H, Kleine I, Bewley S, Loucaides E, Sutcliffe A Neonatal outcomes of waterbirth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2016 Jul;101(4):F357-65. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2015-309600. Epub 2016 Apr 28.
Torkamani SA, Kangani F, Janani F The effects of delivery in water on duration of delivery and pain compared with normal delivery. Pak J Med Sci. 2010; 26(3):551-5.
Vanderlaan J, Hall PJ, Lewitt M Neonatal outcomes with water birth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Midwifery. 2018 Apr;59:27-38. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2017.12.023. Epub 2017 Dec 26. No abstract available.
Woodward J, Kelly SM A pilot study for a randomised controlled trial of waterbirth versus land birth. BJOG. 2004 Jun;111(6):537-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00132.x.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.