[New techniques in childbirth assistance. Experience and results of theoretical and practical training]

In 1995, the Course on Integrated Obstetrical and Gynaecological Techniques was added to the training program of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic and to the Midwife Diploma School, at the Faculty of Medicine of the A. Avogadro University of East Piemonte. This addition was due to the demand to create a service to train young medical doctors and student midwives on the basis of the requirements of the World Health Organisation, concerning a more natural way of giving birth. In this paper the results obtained after a four years practical application of these clinical techniques are presented. The factors considered were the type of assistance offered in correlation with different outcomes for both mother and child. The study demonstrates a general improvement in the quality of assistance and a decrease of costs for the National Health Service. The data have been compared with those of the neighbour Hospital Division, where deliveries are assisted with traditional techniques.