Women's choice of positions during labour: return to the past or a modern way to give birth? A cohort study in Italy.

Background: Childbirth medicalization has reduced the parturient's opportunity to labour and deliver in a spontaneous position, constricting her to assume the recumbent one. The aim of the study was to compare recumbent and alternative positions in terms of labour process, type of delivery, neonatal wellbeing, and intrapartum fetal head rotation.

Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study on women at pregnancy term.