Birthing Spirit

Doula support reduces cesarean and epidural rates
Source: Birth 2008; 35: 92-7

Examining the perinatal effects of doula support for nulliparous middle-income
women accompanied by a male partner during labor and delivery.

MedWire News: The continued presence of a doula during labor significantly
reduces cesarean delivery rates and the need for epidural analgesia in middle-
and upper-class US women accompanied by their male partner or another family
member, researchers report.

They suggest that maybe fathers should not be expected to fulfill the role of
primary labor companion.

Susan McGrath and John Kennell from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland,
Ohio, USA, investigated the potential benefit during labor of an experienced
doula to provide both emotional and instrumental support. A total of 420 women
were randomly assigned to either have a doula present throughout labor in
addition to their male partner or no such additional support.

Women who had the support of a doula had a significantly lower cesarean
delivery rate than the control group, at 13.4 percent versus 25.0 percent. They were
also less likely to need epidural analgesia, at 64.7 percent versus 76.0 percent,
respectively.

Among women with induced labor, just 12.5 percent of women with a doula had a
cesarean delivery, compared with 58.8 percent of those without a doula.

All women and their male partners who received the support of a doula rated
their experience as positive.

“Continuous labor support by a doula is a risk-free obstetric technique
that could benefit all laboring women and should be made available in all maternity units” the researchers conclude.