Water birth: Hospitals need to fulfill certain criteria first - Ministry

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the criteria had been proposed by the expert committee to be incorporated into the guideline for water birth in Malaysian hospitals.

"This guideline and audit framework is currently in the final stage of formalisation and once implemented, hospital that wishes to provide water birth facilities and services may apply to the Health Ministry.

"If they satisfactorily comply with the stipulated requirements, they may be allowed to provide this service," he said in a statement today.

Among the criteria listed in the statement are:

1. The mothers' pregnancy should be straightforward pregnancy. 2. The facility must have the ability to treat any emergency that may arise to either the mother or the baby during and after the process of labour. 3. The facility must have appropriate equipment (capable underwater fetal monitoring) which can be used to monitor the progress of both mother and baby during the process of labour. 4. All healthcare personnel including doctors, midwives and nurses involved in the process of water birth must have adequate training in the method. 5. Necessary precautionary measures are in place to reduce the risk associated with water birth, for instance infection control measures.

Dr Noor Hisham said the framework was being formalised to ensure the safety of women opting for water birthing as their mode of delivery.

"In 2013, the Health Ministry convened a meeting with a group of experts in this field to review the water birth practice in both local and international setting. They concluded that there is no significant benefit of water birth over conventional birthing process.

"However, there are concerns of the increased risk of complications to both mother and baby who opted water birth.

"Furthermore, there is a significant gap in the local setting as water births are not part of the local training curricula of the advanced diploma in midwifery, nor in the training of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist in Malaysia," he said.

Yesterday, it was reported that the ministry would prohibit water births from being conducted at private hospitals nationwide due to safety concerns.

There are three hospitals in the country offering this service – Pantai Kuala Lumpur, Pantai Cheras and Island Hospital in Penang.