Childbirth: is oxygen really useful?

Babies who suffer from oxygen deficiencies during birth are at risk of brain damage that can lead to developmental delays, cerebral palsy and even death. To avoid this, most women in labor are given supplemental oxygen, believing that this common practice increases the oxygen supply to the baby. Examination of data from 16 previous studies conducted by American researchers from Washington University in Saint Louis reveals that this practice does not improve the health of infants. They presented their work on January 4 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

2 out of 3 women receive oxygen

Each year in the United States, about two out of three pregnant women receive supplemental oxygen during childbirth, according to researchers. “It’s such a common practice because it’s believed that by giving mum oxygen we increase the transfer of oxygen to the baby.continues the first author of the study, Nandini Raghuraman. However, the results of this study suggest that oxygen is not helpful in these cases and the practice could be safely discontinued for many women..”

The addition of oxygen was initially administered as a preventive measure. “Fetal monitoring can indicate a possible abnormal problem such as oxygen deprivationadds the researcher. But about 80% of the time, women who give birth fall into an intermediate category, in which the cases are not completely mild but also not high risk. And in such cases, oxygen supplementation offers no additional benefit..”

No difference in baby’s health

For the study, researchers looked at data from 16 studies published between 1982 and 2020 involving 2,052 women. “Overall, the studies produced mixed results, with some indicating benefit and some indicating no benefitobserved Nandini Raghuraman. This was the reason why a meta-analysis was conducted. By grouping the number of patients in the studies, we were able to get a more definitive answer than looking at individual studies.” The researchers assessed the babies’ blood pH levels from samples taken shortly after birth. For infants, anything below 7.1 is considered abnormal and indicates oxygen deprivation. They also compared neonatal intensive care admission rates and Apgar scores – a test that assesses a newborn’s health one to five minutes after birth. Apgar scores check the baby’s heart rate, breathing and other signs to determine if he needs further medical attention.

“Comparing the health of babies whose mothers received oxygen and those whose mothers did not, we found that the differences were essentially zero.”, concluded Nandini Raghuraman. Foregoing oxygen supplementation would help reduce unnecessary intervention and healthcare costs. “It has been shown that mothers, despite having health insurance, often incur high costs related to childbirthadvanced the researcher. Although oxygen is generally an inexpensive intervention compared to other labor and delivery services, it is important to minimize any unnecessary procedures.”

The issue of caesarean deliveries

Previous studies have indicated that supplemental oxygen may benefit women giving birth by caesarean section. The researchers believe that further research is needed. “We also want to see if exposing mother and baby to oxygen during labor can be harmful.continued the researcher. Outside of labor and delivery, plenty of research shows that over-oxygenation is associated with oxidative stress which can cause the type of cell damage involved in conditions such as cerebral palsy and Alzheimer’s. Our results contradict a general myth that oxygen bars and other ways to increase oxygen delivery are healthy and helpful for a person’s general well-being..”