Effect of Immersion, Performed Under the Conditions of Obstetrical Dilatation Bath, on Diuresis and Hemodynamic Variables in Young Women

Like in the full immersion, studied in the context of diving, immersion in water causes a cascade of events with hemodynamic and hormonal consequences. First, immersion leads to a relative hypervolemia by venous redistribution and then 40-60 minutes later, hypovolemia by stimulating diuresis. Dilatation bath is helpful in relieving moderate pain the first stage of obstetrical labor. However, when the labor progresses, the dilatation bath is no longer sufficient and epidural analgesia remains the only effective method to control pain. Used before the realization of an epidural analgesia, dilatation bath could affect blood volume and thus worsen the hemodynamic consequences of the sympathetic block that is linked to the installation of sensory block of the epidural analgesia in the parturient (severe prolonged maternal hypotension that can cause a decrease of the placental perfusion and fetal distress). Before beginning a study in pregnant women, it seems essential to study the hemodynamic consequences of the dilatation bath in a comparable population of volunteers healthy young women and out of the obstetrical context.