Coaching women during childbirth has little impact

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 12/30/05 | Susan Heavey

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pregnant women coached through their first delivery do not fare much better than those who just do what feels natural, according to a study released on Friday.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that women who were told to push 10 seconds for every contraction gave birth 13 minutes faster than those who were not given specific instructions.

But they said the difference has little impact on the overall birth, which experts say can take up to 14 hours on average.

"There were no other findings to show that coaching or not coaching was advantageous or harmful," said lead author Dr. Steven Bloom, the interim head of obstetrics and gynecology at the Dallas-based university.

"Oftentimes, it's best for the patient to do what's more comfortable for her," he added.

Bloom and his team studied 320 first-time mothers who had simple pregnancies and did not receive epidural anesthesia.

About half were given specific instructions by certified nurse-midwives during the second stage of labor, when they were fully dilated. The rest were told to "do what comes naturally."

On average, coached mothers trimmed the final stage to 46 minutes compared to 59 minutes, according to the study sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health.

Women in both groups experienced about the same number of forceps use, Caesarean deliveries and skin tears, among other complications.

The results were published in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Less clear was whether extra pushing encouraged by a coach could lead to bladder trouble.

In an earlier study, the researchers tested bladder function in 128 of the mothers three months later.

While such problems usually resolve on their own over time, women who had been coached had a smaller bladder capacity and felt the urge to urinate more often, they previously found.

Senior author Dr. Kenneth Leveno, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the school, said it was still not clear if the bladder problems could lead to long-term complications and more studies are needed.

"Whether or not these functional changes have long-term consequences, I'm not ready to say," he said in a statement. "We don't want to alarm patients about this."

Friday's finding that coaching "confers neither benefit nor harm might be pre-empted if it is confirmed that coaching has deleterious long-term effects," the study concluded.

[NormsRevenge]

Pregnant women coached through their first delivery do not fare much better than those who just do what feels natural, according to a study released on Friday. (File/Reuters)

[NormsRevenge]

Well, there ya have it.

Coach! You're fired!

[vrwc0915]

It's quite a surprise to many in the medical community that humans gave birth before research and studies. I think it's great that there are things that drs can do to help women and babies live that wouldn't have before but so many of them seem to forget that a birth is primarily a natural event. We are on our 5th and our Dr. that we loved retired and now we have this one who is ok (he was the only other pro life in town) and he is trying to schedule us for all these tests and whatnot, and we just smile and say no thanks and he is dumbfounded that we don't want all these untrasounds and quad screens, and this and that

[LongElegantLegs]

You're the expert ping! Guess I'm lucky that Mr. Legs is such a weenie when it comes to childbirth...

[Vor Lady]

Thanks for the ping. In my experience, Dad was just annoying me trying to get me to do all that unnatural breathing stuff.

[metmom]

Only a MAN would think that 13 minutes of end stage labor was not significant! Honestly, I'm convinced that if men had to give birth, the human race would die out in one generation.

[Thombo2]

I agree.My hat's off to the women of the world.Putting on all that weight,stretch marks,morning sickness,post partum depression,unpredictable mood swings,...Yuk!

[metmom]

It's no joy ride but for us it has certainly been worth it. My three kids are teens and so far they are wonderful. Thank you.

[metmom]

Labor is he!!. Ever had a kidney stone?

[Thombo2]

"If men gave birth the human race would die out in one generation."The first time i heard that was from my mom talking to my dad after she had her last pregnancy-identical twins:)

[SunkenCiv]

it's important to crosslink...

Doctors: OTC Cough Syrups Not Effective
Yahoo News/AP | 1/9/2006 | LINDSEY TANNER
Posted on 01/09/2006 6:37:21 PM PST by Born Conservative
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1555049/posts

but even more relevant to this topic is...

Urethritis in Men Linked to Oral Sex
Yahoo Healthday | 1/6/06 | Randy Dotinga
Posted on 01/08/2006 12:28:15 PM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1554222/posts

[grey_whiskers]

Bill Cosby, in his film Bill Cosby Himself quoted Carol Burnett on childbirth this way:

"Take your bottom lip and pull it up over your head."

He had a great schtick on natural childbirth in that movie.

Cheers! (for Cosby, not labor pains)