Supporting women in labour

Background: Descriptive studies of women’s childbirth experience have suggested four dimensions to the support that women want in labour: emotional support, informational support, physical support, and advocacy. Aim : The aim of this review was to identify practical points for supporting women in labour. Methods: A thorough literature search was performed in different nursing and medical databases, which included searches in PubMed, Cochrane Reviews, Cinhal and also Google, using relevant with this review key words. Results: Women in labor have a profound need for companionship, empathy and help. Continuous support appears to have a greater beneficial impact than intermittent support. Women’s expectations of labour as a whole appear to be of more importance to their overall satisfaction with their labour experience than the perceived effectiveness of pain management. Health care providers are in a unique position to educate prospective parents about the importance of social support around the time of childbirth and may play a critical role in mobilizing support systems for new mothers. Conclusions: Emotional, physical, and informational support is positively related to mother’s mental and physical health around the time of childbirth.

Author(s): Iliadou Maria

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