The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging doctors and medical officials to give women enough time to give birth to avoid many complications.
WHO on Thursday said women in labour should be given more time to give birth and have fewer medical interventions, while participating more in decision-making.
This was part of some 26 new recommendations the world body gave out on medical care at health facilities.
The traditional benchmark in labor wards worldwide is for the dilation of a woman’s cervix at the rate of 1 centimeter per hour but the WHO has rejected that saying it was “unrealistic” and often leads to excessive caesarean sections.
Dr Olufemi Oladapo who is a medical officer in WHO’s department of reproductive health and research said “What has been happening over the last two decades is that we are having more and more interventions being applied unnecessarily to women.”
“Things like caesarean sections, using a drug called oxytocin to speed up labor is becoming very rampant in several areas of the world,” he told a briefing.
“Women should be allowed to choose their delivery position, including squatting or sitting, and be offered pain relief”, Oladapo said adding that “We want a situation where women have an informed choice, and they are involved in decision-making”.
Source: Africafeeds.com
