Spontaneous vaginal delivery in the birth-chair versus in the conventional dorsal position: a matched controlled comparison.

AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the effect of a birth-chair on obstetric outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed the hospital records of 220 consecutive pregnant women who gave birth on a birth-chair at our institution. The control group consisted of 440 pregnant women who preceded and followed the index cases and who had spontaneous vaginal deliveries in the conventional dorsal supine position. The controls were matched for parity and for the attending mid-wife.
RESULTS: Patients who delivered in the birth-chair had significantly lower rates of episiotomy and manual separation of the placenta. The umbilical blood cord pH was significantly higher in neonates of the birth-chair group. The duration of labour, rate of perineal and vaginal injury, Apgar scores and rate of admission to a neonatal intermediate care unit were not influenced by the mode of delivery.
CONCLUSION: Our data support previous studies that a birth-chair delivery may be a safe alternative to conventional delivery in the supine position.