A study of positions facilitating childbirth in the texts of Traditional Persian Medicine

Prolonged labor is accompanied by many complications for the mother, fetus, and infant and thus, one of the best measures is to create new approaches to facilitate and speed up the childbirth process. Considering the global trend towards complementary medicine, investigation and research on traditional medicine sourcesregarding birth positions, can be an effective measure in preventing and treating prolonged labor and ultimately increasing the health of the mother and the baby. This research aims to examine all the birth positions that are presented in reliable sources of Traditional Persian Medicine to facilitate childbirth. The study was conducted by library method, in which the authentic texts of traditional medicine, including Al-Hawi fi al-Tibb, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, Exir-e Azam, Hidayat al-Muta`allimin fi al-Tibb, Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi, Al-Tasrif Liman 'Ajaz 'Aan al-Taleef, Tibb-i Akbari, Tadbir al-Hubala wa-al-Atfal wa-al-Sibyan, Moalijat-i Aqili and Bahjat al-Ru'asa' fi Amrad al-Nisa' were studied. The frequency of giving birth positions during thousands of years indicates a valuable resource that can help us a lot in designing and presenting a specific position, and finally, the best position for giving birth is sitting on a chair.