Hospital Practice Versus Evidence‐Based Obstetrics: Categorizing Practices for Normal Birth in an Egyptian Teaching Hospital^a

Abstract

Hospital practices for normal labor were largely not in accordance with the WHO evidence-based classification of practices for normal birth. The findings are worrying, given the increasing proportion of hospital-based births in Egypt and the country's improved but relatively high maternal and neonatal mortality rates. Obstacles to following evidence-based protocols for normal labor require examination.