What Is a Labor/Birthing
Assistant?
The terms labor/birth assistant and doula share similar goals,
each
referring to an individual offering one-on-one support for a
woman in labor.
Labor assistants provide continuous, uninterrupted care for
the laboring woman
and her partner, and help them participate fully in their experience
by offering
physical and emotional support and information about the birth
process,
available technology and alternatives.A labor assistant in private
practice
typically meets with a woman or couple prenatally, goes to their
home in early
labor, and accompanies them throughout labor and birth in the
setting of their
choice. Many labor assistants also do follow-up visits during
the important
early postpartum period, when most families are left alone.
A labor Assistant should be a professional care provider
who understands and
trusts the process of birth, who respects its trancendant
and sacred aspects as
well as its physical and emotional aspects, and who facilitates
the birth
experience for parents, baby, and primary care providers.
BENEFITS OF PROFESSIONAL LABOR SUPPORT:
Recent studies involving over 1000 women demonstrate that
the presence of a labor assistant results in:
• shorter labors
• reduced need for pain medication
• fewer episiotomies
• fewer c-sections
• improved neonatal outcomes
• better mother-infant interactions
• greater maternal satisfaction |
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