The Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday it will set guidelines for midwives helping women give birth in water.
The DOH made the decision in the wake of a reported death of a baby after its mother tried to give birth in water at a midwife clinic in Hsinchuang, Taipei County.
The clinic's owner, Tsai Sha-ning (
In 1999, Tsai assisted a Miss Lai, who had lived in France, in giving birth to a child in water, an alternative method of childbirth in the developed world. Ever since, Tsai has helped nearly 100 women to do so, five of whose babies have died in the process.
Hsu Chen-chieh (徐振傑), president of the Taiwan Society of Perinatology, said infant mortality is about 0.2 percent in normal childbirth and that the 5 percent rate for water-born infants apparently is too high.
He said it is not the procedure that is to blame, but rather the clinic's ability to handle such incidents as contamination, lack of oxygen and suffocation.
Wang Chung-lang (王炯琅), a gynecologist-turned-DOH official, said that there are only 25 registered midwife clinics throughout the nation that assist in just over 500 births, mostly in remote areas.
Wang said that the number of water births in Taiwan is too small to determine the mortality rate. However, to avoid medical disputes, the DOH will adopt three principles: to regularly check the qualifications of midwives and update their knowledge and skills; to ensure that pregnant women are informed of the risks involved in giving birth in water; and to set up guidelines on the standard procedure that can be used as evidence to determine if a midwife is professionally responsible for any mishap.
Hsu said in some countries where midwifery is common, clinics are integrated into the national health care system in such a way that whenever an emergency occurs, patients can be referred to a hospital immediately.
He said that with a hospital as a back-up, infant mortality can be greatly reduced in water-births.
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