NCT05175599

Hospital Waterbirth Trial to Measure Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes

Hospital Waterbirth: A Pilot Randomized Control Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 168 (actual)
• Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study aims to explore outcomes of waterbirth in comparison to conventional land birth for low-risk healthy women and neonates in a hospital setting in Milwaukee, WI. This study hypothesizes that women who labor and birth in water will use less pain medication, have a shorter labor, will be more likely to initiate breastfeeding prior to discharge, will not experience more negative outcomes, and will experience greater satisfaction than women who labor and birth on land.

Detailed description

Women eligible for a waterbirth will be randomized (2:1) to either waterbirth or land birth at the beginning of the third trimester (25 weeks 0 days to 34 weeks 0 days gestation). The investigators recognize that some women will risk-out or opt-out because of the unpredictability of labor and birth. The goal is that approximately 50% of enrolled waterbirth participants give birth in water. Additionally, the investigators aim to approach the majority of patients eligible for waterbirth with the understanding that some women will not want to participate in a research study. Please note that given the variable nature of birth, once a woman is randomized and enrolled to either group, an intention to treat model will be used for analysis. Following birth, women will be asked to complete a validated questionnaire to evaluate maternal satisfaction prior to discharge. Other data will be collected from our electronic medical record or 4-8 weeks postpartum.

Conditions

• Pregnancy Related

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Water Birth	The water birth group will use a tub of a water to labor and give birth.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-01-17
• Primary completion: 2023-12-23
• Completion: 2023-12-23
• First posted: 2022-01-04
• Last updated: 2025-04-03

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States