Giving an enema during labor not such a good idea after all

Article

-->

Although many clinicians believe in them, giving an enema during the first stage of labor increases time to delivery-by an average of 112 minutes-according to a study presented at the recent ACOG Annual Clinical Meeting in San Diego. To reach that conclusion, investigators did a randomized prospective study, assigning 152 women to a standard 1-L soap enema within 30 minutes of enrollment (n=75) or no enema (n=77). While enemas did reduce the rate of fecal soiling at delivery (11% vs. 30%), there was no difference in the rate of intrapartum infection after results were controlled for duration of membrane rupture. Additionally, there was no difference in the mode of delivery between the two groups.

Clarke NT, Jenkins TR. Randomized prospective trial of the effects of an enema during labor. Obstet Gynecol. 2007;109(suppl):7S.

Recent Videos
Elizabeth Gandee, APRN-CNP, highlights gaps in women's menopause knowledge | Image Credit: wexnermedical.osu.edu
Doula highlights how postpartum care is failing new mothers | Image Credit: linkedin.com
Nicky Herrick MD; and Anushree Agarwal, MD, MBBS, highlight their study on cardiac arrhythmias in pregnancy | Image Credit: © Igor Borodin - stock.adobe.com.
Lisa Becht, MD, FACOG, sheds light on fertility awareness | Image Credit: havingbabies.com.
First US national HPV conference highlights advances in cancer prevention | Image Credit: uchealth.com.
Mitchell Creinin, MD, reports estetrol pill eases menstrual symptoms | Image Credit: health.ucdavis.edu
1 expert is featured in this series.
Susanna Mitro, PhD, reveals ethnic disparities in uterine fibroid diagnosis | Image Credit: divisionofresearch.kaiserpermanente.org.
Shayna Mancuso, DO, highlights the real impact of menopause | Image Credit: linkedin.com.
Jihong Liu, ScD, explains how to improve perinatal outcomes in COVID patients | Image Credit: sc.edu.
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.