title: [The Roma birthing wheel: 1 year clinical experience in a specialty hospital].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the safety and practicability of spontaneous deliveries with the Roma birthing wheel (RBW).
  
  
  METHODS
  The results of 1 year's clinical experience (1.12.1995-30.11.1996) with the RBW at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wilhelminenspital, Vienna, were compared with the results of a group of head-first deliveries before procuring the RBW.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 1,555 births, 1,377 (89%) were spontaneous; 209 (15%) women used the RBW. Compared with the figures before the RBW was available, the total duration of labor was reduced by about one third; the birth canal was intact in 44% and the use of painkillers reduced by a range between 8 and 27%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In spontaneous births the use of the RBW definitely has advantages, e.g., shortening of the procedure and acceptance on the part of the women; also, safety for both mother and child remains unchanged.
authors.affiliation: Gynäkologisch-geburtshilfliche Abteilung des Wilhelminenspitals der Stadt Wien, Osterreich.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rohrbacher
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salzer
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D016550:Birthing Centers; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007748:Labor Stage, Second; D007749:Labor Stage, Third; D009775:Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors