Doulas make a difference

A new review by the highly regarded Cochrane Collaboration has scientifically proven what doulas have intrinsically known for a while- continuous labor support by a doula actually can help women have better outcomes at their births. The journal reviewed 21 studies that included over 15 000 women and concluded that overall, women who received continuous support were less likely than women who did not to:

•have regional analgesia
•have any analgesia/anesthesia
•give birth with vacuum extraction or forceps
•give birth by cesarean
•have a baby with a low 5-minute Apgar score
•report dissatisfaction or a negative rating of their experience.

 

Women receiving continuous support were more likely than those who did not to:
•give birth spontaneously (that is, with neither cesarean nor vacuum extraction nor forceps)
•have a shorter labor.

This is obviously just a quick synopsis of the most important aspects. For mote information on how the study was conducted or more details on the results you can check it out here or here.
Shavua Tov!