La Crosse, Wis.-based Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare announced plans to eliminate water births after the American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a recommendation against it, according to a Star Tribune report.
A committee paneled by members of both national physician organizations issued an opinion in 2014 that water births should only be used in clinical trials because of a heightened risk of infection for the mother and child.
As a result, Mayo-Franciscan's La Crosse (Wis.) hospital will allow women to use immersion while in labor to help manage pain, but will no longer allow births to be conducted under water, according to the report.
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