 |
 
|
|
 Campero L, Garcia C, Diaz C, Ortiz O. et al. (1998) Alone, I wouldn't have known what to do: A qualitative study on social support during labor and delivery and Mexico. Social Science and Medicine. 47(3): 395-403.Sixteen in-depth interviews were held with women in the immediate postpartum period (eight of whom had been accompanied by a doula and eight who had not) before they were discharged from hospital, and the results were analyzed using qualitative techniques. The interviews showed that the women accompanied by doulas had more positive childbirth experiences. The differences between both groups related to their perceptions of the childbirth experience; the treatment they received from hospital staff; the information they were given and how well they understood it; their perception of hospital routines; and their feelings about cesarean sections. Langer A, Campero L, Garcia C, Reynoso S. (1998) Effects of psychosocial support during labour and childbirth on breastfeeding, medical interventions, and mothers' wellbeing in a Mexican public hospital: a randomised clinical trial. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 105(10):1056-63. This study examined 724 births for the effect of social support provided by a doula. The frequency of exclusive breastfeeding one month after birth was significantly higher in the group of women attended by doulas, as were the behaviors that promote breastfeeding. More doula-attended women perceived a high degree of control over the delivery experience, and the duration of labor was shorter than in the group of women who did not have the services of a doula. Scott KD, Berkowitz G, Klaus M. (2000) A comparison of intermittent and continuous support during labor: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 8(17): 16, 19. This meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials showed that continuous labor support, when compared with no doula support, was significantly associated with shorter labors, and decreased need for the use of any analgesia, oxytocin augmentation, cesarean sections, and use of forceps. Scott KD, Klaus PH, Klaus MH. (1999) The obstetrical and postpartum benefits of continuous support during childbirth. Journal of Women's Health and Gender Based Medicine. 8(10): 1257-64. The evidence from twelve individual controlled trials and three meta-analyses was examined. Emotional and physical support provided by doulas significantly shortened labor and decreased the need for cesarean deliveries, forceps and vacuum extraction, oxytocin augmentation, and analgesia. Doula-supported mothers also rated childbirth as less difficult and painful than did women not supported by a doula. |
||
