Bicarb sip delivers

FOR centuries it has used to make cakes rise.

Now, scientists have found that a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, dissolved in water, could help thousands of women undergoing a prolonged labour to give birth naturally. It works by neutralising acid in the womb.

The breakthrough could reduce the need for caesarean sections. Professor Susan Wray, from the University of Liverpool, and colleagues from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute carried out a study looking at 200 women giving birth for the first time.

All were having difficulties making progress with a natural labour. Half were given the standard treatment – the drug oxytocin, which induces contractions.

The other 100 were given 2.13g of bicarbonate of soda in a 200ml glass of water, followed by oxytocin after an hour. Eighty-four per cent of the women who had the drink gave birth naturally, compared with 67 per cent of those women who did not have it. been