• Childbirth has better outcomes when mothers receive constant support during labor.mother and baby image by goce risteski from Fotolia.com
  
  With heavy workloads, doctors and nurses often do not have as much time to spend with individual patients in labor as they might like. However, a study by the County of Sonoma Department of Public Health Services, California, found that when women receive the continuous support of a trained layperson during labor, they have better outcomes. These laypersons, called doulas, significantly reduce the need for medical interventions and reduce the cost of delivery.
  
  

Labor

• The County of Sonoma study found that doula support of mothers during childbirth reduced the length of labor. When women have shorter labors, that often results in fewer medical interventions during childbirth, which is better for mother and child and reduces the costs to insurance companies.
  
  

Interventions

• Women supported by the continuous care of a doula during childbirth are significantly less likely to need many common medical interventions, such as forceps delivery, use of vacuum extractors, epidural anesthesia and even Cesarean sections. No negative effects have been reported as a result of support provided to mothers during the childbirth or postpartum periods.
  
  

Postpartum

• During the postpartum period, a doula provides support for the mother's recovery from birth. The caregiver also helps mothers with newborn care, including establishing breastfeeding and teaching mothers how to care for their babies. Mothers with doula care in the postpartum period are more likely to breastfeed exclusively, bond better with their babies and experience less postpartum depression.
  
  

Perception

• Women who had the continuous support of a caregiver during childbirth and the postpartum period commonly report feelings of empowerment. They are also less likely to report negative feelings about their childbirth experience. Because women have more help during the postpartum period, they also have less difficulty with the adjustment to new motherhood.