There are hospitals that have stopped doing so, but many others continue this practice even though studies advise against the routine use of enema during labor.
The explanation given to place an enema on the woman who is about to give birth is to avoid possible infections in both the mother and the baby.
However its use is not necessary It is nothing new. The test is in this study conducted by midwives of the Jaén hospital in 2003 and in one I just met by a Colombian team and published in the digital edition of The Cochrane Library.
The latter found that there were no significant differences between the rates of infections due to lesions in the perineum and of infections in the babies of women who had had enemas and who had not, nor that the use of enemas had modified the rate of pediatric respiratory infections.
Both reach the same conclusion: that The real benefits of the enema are unknown, which does not reduce infection rates for injuries to the mother or the baby, nor does it improve the birth experience for women.
In the first, midwives go beyond qualifying it even as an ineffective and harmful practice that should be eliminated.
It is true that there are mothers who prefer it because they feel more comfortable at the time of delivery. But it is known that when labor is triggered it is very likely that you will evacuate spontaneously.
Again, as always when I talk about adequate delivery care, the important thing is that it is the woman who chooses how she wants to give birth. I do not think it is right that practices are carried out “by decree” and less if they are falling into disuse for not providing any demonstrated benefit.
