Childbirth Experience Can Be Improved With The Help Of A Trusted Friend

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 19 Jul 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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A recent study shows that women who received continuous support in labor by a female support person trained as a "lay doula" had significantly shorter labors, lower cesarean rates, and higher APGAR scores for their newborns. Doulas are trained and certified to provide continuous support to a woman during labor.

This study looked at 600 labors where the patients' female friend underwent four hours of training in doula techniques and were considered "lay doulas". The results suggested that labor can be shortened by 1 hour. Outcomes on the newborn health were also shown to be improved by 2% based on the APGAR score - a ranking system health care practitioners use to measure health characteristics of newborns.

These findings could benefit low income women who cannot afford formal birth support but want the positive outcome of having the continuous support of a lay doula.

This paper is published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing.

Dee Campbell is the Research Coordinator for the Study on Sleep & Functional Performance in Heart Failure at UMDNJ in Newark.

About JOGNN

JOGNN is the official journal of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). A leader among the nation's nursing associations, AWHONN serves and represents more than 22,000 health care professionals in the U.S., Canada and abroad. AWHONN members are committed to delivering superior health care to women and newborns in hospitals, in home health and ambulatory care settings. AWHONN members' rich diversity of skills and experience make AWHONN the voice for women's health and neonatal nursing. AWHONN received a 2005 Associations Advance America Award from the American Society of Association Executives for Promoting Health Among Hispanic Women through Toda Mujer, a Spanish language publication distributed free of charge to over 500,000 women through their nurses. For more information about AWHONN, go to http://www.awhonn.org.

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