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Water immersion during labor and delivery is controversial. Now, authors of a joint Committee Opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics review evidence, proposed benefits, and reported complications associated with this birthing mode. As noted in a 2009 Cochrane review of 12 randomized, controlled trials involving 3243 women, many studies were small, retrospective, observational, and did not clearly define immersion or indicate when during labor this intervention was used.
Some individual studies support benefits of immersion, although findings are inconsistent. Combined results indicate that immersion during the first stage of labor is associated with decreased use of epidura…