‘Water birthing can take place in hospitals soon’

PETALING JAYA: Guidelines and audit framework to allow water birthing will be introduced soon to ensure its safety, the Health Ministry says.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the guidelines and audit framework were in the final stages of being formalised. Once ready, hospitals that wished to provide water birth facilities and services could apply to the ministry.

“If they comply with the stipulated requirements, they will be allowed to provide this service,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

Dr Noor Hisham said water births had been practised in some private hospitals here for several years and there were concerns that more women were opting for the method, although the number was still small.

“Safety is of paramount importance and the method must be proven safe for the mother and baby,” he said.

The ministry, he said, convened a meeting with experts in 2013 to review the water birth practice in both local and international settings and found that there were concerns of increased risk of complications.

“Furthermore, there is a significant gap in the local setting as water births are not part of the local training,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said among the proposed guidelines by the expert committee on water births in hospitals are:

> It should be a straightforward pregnancy.

> The facility must have the ability to treat any emergency that may arise during and after the process of labour.

> The facility must also have appropriate equipment (capable of underwater foetal monitoring) that can be used to monitor the progress of both mother and baby during the process of labour.

> Personnel with adequate training in the method.

> Precautionary measures to reduce the risk associated with water births, for instance, infection control.

On Wednesday, Health deputy director-general (medical) Datuk Dr S. Jeyaindran said water births were prohibited as there was no evidence to suggest that it was beneficial to the mother.

The ministry recently issued a notice to Pantai Hospital in Kuala Lumpur on the prohibition of water births.

Former president of Malaysian Medical Association Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan said water births should not be allowed unless there was specialised training provided for it.

He said currently, there were no accredited centres locally or in most parts of the world for obstetrics and gynaecologists to be trained in the method.