Continuous Support for Women in Childbirth

An updated systematic review of the effects of continuous labor support was published in The Cochrane Library in 2011, Issue 2.
This review summarizes results of 21 randomized controlled trials that involved 15,061 women.

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.

The reviewers drew the following conclusions about implications for practice:

Continuous support during labour should be the norm, rather than the exception. Policy makers should consider making continuous labor support a covered service, and hospitals should implement programs to offer continuous labor support. 

Click here to read more, including the link to the full pdf from Cochrane Library.