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Women Giving Birth To 1st Baby Should Push Early To Reduce Risks: U.S. Study

Although there is a greater risk of perineal tearing.
A new U.S. study found pushing as soon as the cervix is fully dilated reduces the risk of hemorrhage and infection.
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A new U.S. study found pushing as soon as the cervix is fully dilated reduces the risk of hemorrhage and infection.

Women in their first pregnancy should push early in the delivery, as soon as the cervix is fully dilated, in order to minimize risks to themselves and the baby, according to a new U.S. study.

Several previous studies have had mixed or contradictory findings on the two most common techniques used in American maternity wards: pushing immediately or waiting about an hour in order to encourage spontaneous birth, which some doctors believe reduces the need for Caesarean sections or forceps.

From May 2014 to Dec. 2017, six American hospitals participated in a study to determine which method is the safest for mother and child.

Pushing immediately can reduce the risk of some childbirth complications, authors found.
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Pushing immediately can reduce the risk of some childbirth complications, authors found.

Hospital staff advised half the women to push immediately after being fully dilated while recommending the others to wait an hour longer. The 2,400 women who participated were randomly placed in either group. All had received an epidural or other pain relief.

In the study published Tuesday in the JAMA journal, the researchers concluded that pushing immediately reduced the risk of complications such as infections and hemorrhage for the mother, even if there was a greater risk of significant perineal tearing.

They also found that pushing as soon as the cervix is fully dilated didn't increase the number of C-sections, and the second stage of labor was half an hour shorter for those women.

As for the newborns, the risk of infection increased when women waited longer before pushing. The study thus leaned more heavily toward recommending prompt pushing.

"Our findings suggest that women becoming moms for the first time should begin pushing right away when they become completely dilated, for the best outcome for themselves and for their babies," lead author Alison Cahill, an obstetrician at Washington University in St. Louis, told NPR radio.

The study, however, cannot be generalized to all pregnant women as it only concerned those giving birth for the first time following normal pregnancies and more than 37 weeks of gestation. But it could help change practices at U.S. maternity wards.

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