Use of Birth Support to Reduce the Rate of Complications and C Sections

The process started by seeking the definition of the term doula, it was discovered that the term “doula” is a Greek word that means women servant and for centuries, women have served their fellows during childbirth. Women servant at birth was very prevalent in the pre-modern days and most women consider doula very helpful. In modern times, a doula can be described as a professionally trained person in childbirth to provide physical, educational, and emotional support to an expectant mother, a mother in labor, or has delivered recently. The main role of the Doula is to assist mothers to have a memorable, safe, and empowering experience during delivery. There could be another doula who could be specialized in performing antepartum or postpartum roles.

Failure to understand the scientific language in the studied collected could also lead to possible errors at the time of research compilation. Some measurement criteria used in some of the articles may not be easy to understand. Relying on secondary research may also lead to errors since they are likely to carry forward or exaggerate the mistakes made during primary research. Failure to identify some measurement criteria in the articles found could also lead to wrong assumptions. Lack of bias analysis and measurement at the time of collecting the articles could also result in yielding of unnecessary materials, however, the final articles that were picked from the study were critically examined and several were eliminated in the process. Such an aspect makes the presence of male partners vital at the time of delivery and during labor.

Women together with their male partners also gave positive reviews concerning the process of delivery. A positive experience in healthcare process is often associated with increased quality of services. The controlled group had different results that were characterized by increased caesarian and more need for epidural analgesia. They also gave negative ratings of the labor and delivery process when compared to the doula category. The researchers noted the outcome of the delivery and labor process by looking at aspects such as caesarian deliveries and other complications. The women and their partners were given questionnaires at the end of their hospital stay to rate their experience, a factor that could be used to determine the quality and safety of the process. The results of the study were that the doula category significantly had lower rates of cesarean delivery when compared to the control group that had a normal birth process (13.

4% vs 25. 0%, p = 0. Application of Evidence As a healthcare practitioner, reliance on evidence-based practices is the best way of improving safety, quality, and experience of a healthcare delivery process (Crigger & Wynia, 2013). It is therefore essential to seek as much evidence as possible so that healthcare practice can have better results thus saving patients from several complications. The above randomized controlled trial is an example of an evidence-based practice that can help nurses and other healthcare practitioners adopt best strategies for women experiencing labor. Despite the fact that it is not the first research to link doula roles and better outcomes for pregnant women, it brings out new suggestions that involving male partners in the process and in the accompany of a doula may yield better results.

It is necessary that women allowed to choose their own doulas. The fact that the study was guided by a previous research that linked low-income women with the help of doula at the time of delivery with positive results such as reduced complications and cesareans implies that the same could happen to both low and high-income earners. I will also encourage the accompany of a male partner during the process of delivery and at labor moments. Hospital managers should make it conducive for male partners to accompany their spouses during the time of birth. It seems there is a role that the doula and a male partner play at the time of labor and during delivery (Crigger & Wynia, 2013). Such kind of support is likely to be emotional, a factor that is greatly related to better health outcomes.

Such results are reliable and can be applied in an everyday situation in maternity units. Special concern that can be spotted from the study is the involvement of male partners in the delivery and labor process. Nevertheless, the results can still be applied in the ordinary situation thus making the study both internally and externally valid. The 100 percent positive response from the participants who had doula experiences is another reason to apply the results in everyday life similar cases. Hospitals should start encouraging women to accept the role of doula so that they can have ease at the time of giving birth. However, the proper definition and criteria for picking these women were not identified. The category of picking doulas and their qualifications should have been unveiled.

It is clear that doulas may not have medical knowledge or training, therefore, the researchers could have elaborated how they prepared the doulas for the exercise and possible elaborate the length that these doulas spent with the mothers. There is a possibility that the outcome of the study could be affected by the length of stay of the doulas during labor and at delivery. The study does not highlight special cases that were noted during the exercise. More sampling should be used to accommodate many women so as to make it more reliable. It is also essential that the researchers elaborate the role of doulas to a deeper level such as the emotional impact that they have on mothers at the time of labor and delivery.

Future researchers should also be able to include participants from various social-economic classes and not only middle-income earners since it may be inappropriate to segregate patients in terms of their income at the time of healthcare delivery. Level of Evidence The evidence of the research discussed can be categorized as level 11. It meets the criterion for the classification of the second highest level when it comes to ranking of evidences. doi. org/10. 756837 Girth and Kennell. A randomized controlled trial of continuous labor support for middle-class couples: effect on cesarean delivery rates 2008 Jun;35(2):92-7. doi: 10.  Infant Mental Health Journal, 34(5), 446-457. http://dx. doi. org/10. 1002/imhj. , Murphy, J. , & Jordan, E. Evaluation of a Student-Nurse Doula Program: An Analysis of Doula Interventions and Their Impact on Labor Analgesia and Cesarean Birth.