[Comparison of safety of the vertical and horizontal position for delivery]

The objective of the study was to assess whether vertical positions during childbirth are as safe as horizontal positions. In the course of delivery the authors observed 328 women with normal pregnancies, matched for parity and age, divided into two groups by type of delivery. They compared the course of the delivery, length of stages I and II, birth injuries, haemorrhage of the mother (number of episiotomies and grade III rpt. and blood losses) and the condition of the infant after delivery (Apgar score during the fifth and tenth minute, pH of the umbilical artery). The differences were evaluated by the chi square test and were not statistically significant. In the vertical position no greater risk was found for mother or infant and it can be considered equally safe as the horizontal one but it is more apt for mother and foetus.