title: Gentle birth: its safety and its effect on neonatal behavior.
abstract: Leboyer describes a method of handling babies at birth designed to decrease initial stimulation and lessen trauma for the infant. Twenty clinic patients were delivered using a modification of this method. They were compared to 17 control patients delivered in the customary manner. Significant differences were noted between the two groups in five of 18 neonate behaviors observed in the delivery room. Among control subjects there was significantly more time spent with hand muscles tense during the first ten minutes after birth; more trembling, shuddering, and blinking during the first 15 minutes after deliver; and more trembling and shuddering overall. Experimental subjects spent significantly more time with hand muscles relaxed during the first ten minutes after birth and more time with open eyes overall. Results of this study indicate the Leboyer method is safe for mother and infant and promotes infant relaxation in the delivery room.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002652:Child Behavior; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy