Effects of Obstetric Interventions During Labor on Birth Process and Newborn Health

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the interventions in the delivery room on the delivery process and the newborn health.

The analytical-cross-sectional study was carried out with 354 puerperal women who gave birth in hospital between December 2016 and June 2017 in a public hospital. The data were collected by the data collection form developed by the researchers. Data analysis was done by using descriptive statistics and chi-square test in SPSS 21.00 program.

The interventions were determined in continuous electro fetal monitoring (80.5%), oxytocin induction (79.9%), restriction of free movement (56.8%), amniotomy (49.7%), enema (44.1%), and movement restriction (56.8%). The intervention period of the second phase of delivery was longer and the rate of cesarean section was higher, and the need for NICU, suction difficulty, 5th APGAR score less than 7, trauma development, difficulty in suction, and higher trauma rates were found in infants. It was determined that the rate of oxygen need in puerperals admitted to the delivery room with cervical dilatation below five cm, vacuum and episiotomy applications in those who underwent amniotomy, and vacuum application rates in those undergoing oxytocin inductions were found to be high. In addition, the rate of fundal compression and episiotomy was significantly higher in patients who used continuous electro fetal monitoring, fundal compression and vacuum rate in patients who were administered analgesic drugs, and episiotomy rates in patients using analgesic drugs.

It has been concluded that interventions in the first phase of labor negatively affect the delivery process and neonatal health and increase the need for intervention in the second phase.