Abstract
A new obstetric chair has been designed to overcome some of the problems of those currently available commercially. The chair has been used to assess the effects of the sitting position in the second stage of labor on the outcome of delivery in 304 women randomly allocated to be delivered either in the chair or in the conventional dorsal position. Delivery in the chain conferred no benefits to mother or baby and resulted in greater mean blood loss and a higher rate of postpartum haemorrhage.