Commentary by

In this position paperdone of six care practice papers published by Lamaze International and reprinted here with permissiondthe benefit of no routine interven-tions during birth is discussed and presented as an evidence-based practice that helps promote, protect, and support normal birth. The paper is written for childbearing women and their families. It presents evi-dence related to restrictions on eating and drinking, use of intravenous fluids, continuous electronic fetal monitoring, artificial rupture of the membranes, aug-mentation of labor, and epidural analgesia. The accom-panying commentarydwritten by an award-winning medical writerdsupports and expands on the benefits of no routine interventions during birth. Lamaze Inter-national recommends that laboring women avoid re-strictions on eating and drinking. The organization also recommends avoidance of IVs, continuous elec-tronic fetal monitoring, epidurals, and efforts to speed up labor, unless a clear indication for their use is evident. Journal of Perinatal Education, 13(2), 23e29; nor-mal birth, labor interventions, care practices, childbirth education. Anesthesia techniques have improved greatly in the last 50 years. General anesthesia is rare in modern obstetrics; aspiration is rare in modern anesthesia; no period of fast-ing guarantees an empty stomach; and clear liquids leave the stomach almost immediately. For these reason, many health-care providers no longer restrict eating and drink-ing during a normal labor