Objective:

To compare obstetric and perinatal results in deliveries attended in freely chosen position and lithotomy.

Material and methods:

Descriptive, retrospective, and cross-sectional study. Single pregnancies, gestational age ≥ 37 weeks, cephalic presentation, and eutocic deliveries attended at a hospital in Mexico City were included. Demographic data, obstetric and neonatal outcomes were analyzed. A univariate analysis was performed, using χ2 to analyze qualitative variables and Student’s t or Mann-Whitney U, according to their distribution, for quantitative variables.

Results:

100 patients with vaginal delivery were included, divided into two groups; the first with 44 deliveries attended in a freely chosen position compared to 56 in the lithotomy position. It was found that in the freely chosen position, they were admitted with greater cervical dilation and effacement required less obstetric analgesia (p < 0.001), less conduction of labor with oxytocin (p < 0.001), and better Apgar score at 1 minute and 5 minutes (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed in the duration of the expulsive period, perineal tears, or blood loss (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

The freely chosen position has no adverse maternal or neonatal consequences. The forced lithotomy position is related to interventions such as the use of oxytocin and obstetric analgesia.