“I want you to come with me to the hospital.” These were the words of a laboring mother for one of our Labor Supporters when the mother was referred to a higher level of care. She enjoyed the company of the support woman so much so that she wanted her by her side throughout the journey.
Modern medicine has done wonders for humanity. Maternal care in particular has evolved over the years to bring about a remarkable reduction in bad obstetric outcomes. But (there’s always a but isn’t it?) it comes with a catch. The overmedicalization of obstetrics has gradually shifted the focus from the mother to her womb. This subtle evolution has left the mother’s physical and emotional needs unattended in exchange for intensive and continuous monitoring of uterine and fetal status.
Not all women perceive their labor and childbirth experience as positive. In fact, up to 44% of women have a negative birth experience. A study found that 34 % of participants reported their birth experience as traumatic, out of which 1.9% developed all the symptoms needed to diagnose posttraumatic stress disorder, 30.1% were partially symptomatic.
One reason identified as the cause of negative childbirth is the lack of intrapartum labor support. But until recent times in human history, mothers had comforting support in the form of another woman by their sides during labor and delivery. The role of the woman was to provide continuous support so that the experience of childbirth has a rather positive tone instead of an arduous, lonely, and miserable journey. In that regard, there is growing evidence of the positive effect of this intervention on labor experience and labor outcome. Labor supporter guidance in perinatal care was associated with positive delivery outcomes including reduced cesarean sections, premature deliveries, and length of labor. Moreover, the emotional support provided by labor supporters was seen to reduce anxiety and stress.
The role of labor supporters is composed of five consistent aspects: 1. Providing specific labor support skills, techniques, and strategies. 2. Offering guidance and encouragement to laboring mothers and their families. 3. Building a team relationship with nursing staff. 4. Encouraging communication between patients and medical caregivers. 5. Assisting mothers to cover gaps in their care. But these activities can be summed in three main activities: to provide physical, emotional, and informational support to women during labor, birth, and in the immediate postpartum period.
The ACSIS CoMoM- Continuous Labor Support Initiative — hopes to bring this proven intervention to our primary care. Community mothers with basic training on continuous labor support can go a long way in ensuring our labor and delivery services are women-centered, and contributing to a positive child birth experience for mothers.