Published online August 1, 2005
PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 2 August 2005, pp. 522-523 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-1334)
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Strong Opinions Versus Science in Water-Birth Controversy

Sandra Hess, CPM
The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Editor’s note: The journal has received a number of letters regarding the commentary "Underwater Births," published in the May 2005 issue of Pediatrics. The proponents of water birth are advocating a procedure that is not scientifically validated with randomized trials.

The letter from Hess is one of several opinions that are pro–water birth, and responses by Batton and Lucey present the conflicting viewpoints.

To the Editor.—

The pediatric community, through the journal Pediatrics, deserves to be treated in kind regard of their intelligence and in their capabilities to discern "fads" from evidence-based practices, even new practices, such as water birth.

A serious attack was published in Pediatrics in October 2003.1 Pediatrics has repeatedly been negative and condemning of water birth. I must question how the research for these articles, including the May 2005 commentary,2 concluded with this opinion that water birth is a dangerous childbirth practice.

Many providers and parents, including pediatricians and the American College of Nurse Midwives, have tried to respond with . . . [Full Text of this Article]