Have It Your Way: Redesigning Birth

Still, women may benefit from sitting in the pools during the first stages of labor. A recent article in the British Medical Journal reported that women who used the pools early in labor but actually gave birth in beds were less likely to request epidurals. That kind of compromise may be the future of birth in America. "We try not to let patients totally dictate the way their labor is managed," says Thiet, whose UCSF birth center offers pools for the early, but not late, stages of labor. "But we do want them to have a say." After all, in the last 30 years they've gotten a say in almost everything else.

© 2004