Articles related to LABOR & DELIVERY

A 10-percentage-point increase in Black women giving birth at a hospital was associated with a 5.1-percentage-point decrease in breastfeeding rates. Hospitals with top-quartile nurse work environments had 9 percentage points higher breastfeeding rates.

“To realize the full potential of the [Safe Childbirth Checklist], implementers and policymakers need to understand better what quality infrastructure is necessary to create an enabling environment.” (Kaplan et al., JAMA Network Open)

A trauma-informed approach should guide the decision about oral misoprostol versus vaginal pharmacologic or mechanical methods because more vaginal exams may cause distress in some patients.

“We may be the only specialty that continues to do major abdominal surgery without a shred of evidence of benefit.” —Steven Clark, MD, Baylor College of Medicine

Judge Patrick Corum ruled that the hospital was profoundly negligent during delivery, describing its care as comparable to giving birth in “the most dangerous place on the planet.”

This case emphasizes the crucial role of continuous fetal monitoring and timely intervention during labor, particularly when signs of distress are present.