Active involvement in Dublin

Abstract

The concept of active management of labour was evolved at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin in the late 1960s. It represented a fundamental shift of emphasis in obstetric practice. Formerly, medical involvement in labour was essentially passive until full dilatation had been achieved, when almost any medical procedure aimed at vaginal delivery was acceptable. With the evolution of active management of labour, the involvement of senior obstetric staff began at the time of admission to hospital in an attempt to prevent emergencies arising in women who were normal at the start of labour. This increased medical involvement in the conduct of normal labour brought with it a heightened awareness of the woman’s subjective experience of childbirth and its lasting effect on the psyche.