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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2006 May 11.
Published in final edited form as: Birth. 2005 Dec;32(4):283–290. doi: 10.1111/j.0730-7659.2005.00385.x

Table 5.

WHO Classification of Practices Not Included by Reason for Exclusion

  1. Practices preceding arrival at facility

    Respecting choice of place of birth

    Having had a birth plan

    Risk assessment of pregnancy during prenatal care

    Providing care in labor and delivery at the most peripheral levelb.

  2. Practices subject to observer subjectivity

    Empathic support by caregivers during labor and birth

  3. Practices not offered at the facility

    Choice of companion during labor (not offered in free section)

    Noninvasive, nonpharmacological methods for pain relief

    Massaging and stretching the perineum during second stage of labor

    Nipple stimulation to increase uterine contraction

    Pain control by epidural analgesia

    Electronic fetal monitoringd.

  4. Practices difficult for observers to assess

    Sustained, directed bearing-down efforts (Valsalva maneuver)

    Maneuvers related to protecting the perineum