Table 2.

Classification of the reported practices of the eight governmental hospitals according to Enkin et al.

Practice	Number of hospitals reporting routine use
Forms of care likely to be ineffective or harmful
Enema	2
Pubic shaving	4
Lithotomy position during 2nd stage of labor	8
Liberal or routine use of episiotomy	6, particularly for primigravidae
Forms of care unlikely to be beneficial
Withholding food and drink	2
Routine intravenous infusion	3
Routine suctioning of the newborn	3
Beneficial forms of care
Prophylactic oxytocics in 3rd stage	8
Active vs. expectant management of 3rd stage	8
Unrestricted breastfeeding	8
Forms of care likely to be beneficial, although not established by randomized trials
Midwifery care for low-risk women	8
Presence of a companion for labor and birth	0
Freedom of movement and choice of position in labor	8
Non-pharmacological methods of pain relief	7
Keeping newborn babies warm	8, dry and put on heated resuscitation table
Encouraging early mother—infant contact and breastfeeding	8
Prophylactic vitamin K to baby	7
Forms of care with a trade-off between beneficial and adverse effects
Narcotics to relieve pain in labor	7 use pethidine frequently
Epidural analgesia to relieve pain in labor	6 do not provide epidural analgesia; 2 provide it for a small # of cases
Oxytocin for augmentation of labor	5 reported augmentation with oxytocin in over 50% of the cases
Continuous electronic monitoring versus intermittent auscultation during labor	All facilities reported using intermittent auscultation and having at least one monitor.
	Only three hospitals had a fetal stethoscope