A doula serves thoughout the birth experience to provide continuous support,encouragement, and comfort to the mother and father by focusing on non-medicinal ways to alleviate pain and reduce the length of labor.
Studies show
- Reduced the overall cesarean rate by 50%
- Reduced the length of labor by 25%
- Reduced pitocin use by 40%
- Reduced the use of pain medication by 30%
- Reduced forceps deliveries by 40%
- Reduced requests for epidural pain medication by 60%
- Reduced incidences of maternal fever
- Reduced the number of days newborns spent in NICU (neo-natal infant care unit)
- Reduced the amount of septic workups performed on newborns
- Resulted in higher rates of breastfeeding
- Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal confidence
- Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal and newborn health
- Resulted in decreased rates of postpartum depression