Anyone else see this? Exciting new study into preventing c-section/intervention

[HeavyLoad]

I saw a segment on the Victoria Derbyshire show on Weds about a new study into reducing the risk of C-section/intervention. They found that women who progress to c-section have higher acidity levels in the blood surrounding the womb so they tried neutralising it by getting women to drink a bicarbonate of soda drink when they went into labour. When tested the acidity levels had reduced dramatically and the results were really promising, with more vaginal deliveries achieved and shorter labours (closer to 6 hours for first-time pregnancies rather than 12+ is what she said).

I found this article on it here but doesn't include too much detail about the results:
www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/01/17/give-bicarbonate-pregnant-women-ease-delivery-new-study/

She said they used a simple bi-carb of soda sachet available over the counter - I wonder if she means indigestion relief or something?

Anyway, I thought it would be worth a try! Will speak to the Midwife about it first but it isn't a drug so don't see why not.

I would be wanting to see more than one study done, especially on more than 100 women.

Also, some women choose to have a CS for their own perfectly valid reasons.

Thanks good tip! I completely don’t see how a sachet of bicarb can possibly do anything bad so at worst it will prevent indigestion lol!

That's interesting. It would be pretty amazing if something as simple as that can be effective.

Happy Of course some women choose to have c-sections. Lots don't, though - and this would be very exciting for them. Can't we just be excited about this, rather than turning it into a "c-section versus natural birth" thing?

I don't know why papers don't link to the original study! The abstract is here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14767058.2017.1339268

The sample is 200 women. afaik lactic acid is what makes your muscles feel tired and burning during exercise so I imagine they are trying to decrease that. Potentially interesting for the births that end up being affected by that.

TheHappyRedDragon yes, the scientist on the segment said obviously it was a very small study so not reliable yet but she said the results were promising.

And yes, obviously there are many who plan CSs for medical/other reasons (after my first labour I had a new appreciation for elective cesareans haha) but this study could be exciting for those hoping for vaginal delivery.

thecatfromjapan yep, what is particularly exciting is that you don't need any specialist equipment or fridges and there isn't a short sell-by date so could help prevent serious complications in places with less access to medical supplies/equipment.

I heard about it on radio bore 4, probably woman's hour. Amazing first steps in very exciting research.
Dragon, the research is about women who have to have c sections, not elective ones.

PS I think when they say bicarbonate of soda they basically mean those Andrews antacid sachets you dilute in water. Going to get some!

This is really interesting. DS didn’t progress down the birth canal, but we got there in the end with ventouse and cutting (he was only teeny at 4lb10!). I’d love to avoid intervention this time. Might take the paper to my consultant to see what she thinks.
Thank you for sharing

After way more intervention with DS than I wanted/was comfortable with, this is potentially very good news. I'm certainly going to have a poke about some medical journals to see if I can find more information. In all likelihood I'll give it a try with DC2 come August in any case. I can't see what possible harm it could cause (unless my research throws up something unexpected).