The Health Ministry announced that water births are not allowed until official guidelines have been set for the procedure.
The Malay Mail Online reports that the ban has come into place as officials say there ‘is no evidence to say that it is safe’.
“For water birth, there is no evidence to say that it is safe and that it can be controlled, so we need to come up with some guidelines before it can be allowed to be practised,” Health Deputy Director-General (Medical) Datuk Dr S. Jeyaindran was quoted as saying.
He was quoted further as saying that one private hospital in Kuala Lumpur has been told to stop allowing water births, while other hospitals have been informed of the decision, despite no negative incidents involving the method of childbirth.
“Our experts have actually sat down to discuss this, and it is the consensus of the obstetricians and gynaecologists of the Ministry of Health that we should not allow water birthing until there are guidelines to ensure that the people involved in water birthing are adequately trained,” he added.
