Efficacy of spontaneous pushing with pursed lips breathing compared with
directed pushing in maternal and neonatal outcomes: a clinical trial
Abstract
Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of spontaneous pushing with pursed
lips breathing compared to directed pushing during the second period of
labor in the occurrence of episiotomy. Methods: this is a
quasi-randomized clinical trial, with 62 low-risk pregnant women in the
second stage of labor. They were randomly allocated in control (CG) (n =
31) and intervention (IG) (n = 31) groups. The IG performed spontaneous
pushing with pursed lips breathing while the CG was oriented to perform
directed pushing associated with Valsalva Maneuver (MV). Results: There
was no difference between the groups regarding the occurrence of
episiotomy (RR 1,1; 95%IC 1,0 to 1,2). However, there was a decrease in
the duration of the maternal pushing by 3.2 minutes (MD 3,2; 95%CI 1,4
to 5,1) and a difference in maternal anxiety (Md (IQR) IG 46 (35-52), CG
51 (44-56) p:0,049), both favoring the IG. There was no difference in
others maternal and neonatal outcomes Conclusions: spontaneous pushing
with pursed lips breathing was effective in reducing the duration of the
pushing and showed a difference in maternal anxiety, but did not
decrease the occurrence of episiotomy, nor did it alter the other
studied maternal and neonatal outcomes.