Someone to hold your hand

Currently across the world in non-industrial countries, mothers during birth are attended by other experienced mothers. Historically this has been the norm, until the mass movement into hospital in first world countries.

In the Cochrane Review 2011, ‘Continous Support for Women during Childbirth’ 1, it concludes that continous attendance from a birth companion during the birth process, can have many benefits. The main one is that the Mother feels generally more satisfied with her experience than that of normal routine maternity care, where continous support has unfortunately become the exception rather than the norm.

Other benefits include:

• Mothers had a more satisfying experience
• Mothers had shorter labours
• Mothers requested less pain medication
• Mothers gave birth spontaneously, so less caesarean, forceps and vaccuum extraction
• Mothers felt more control and competence reducing obstetric intervention
• Babies are less likely to have a low score on their first health medical test; Apgar Scoring
• No adverse effects were recorded.

Other research suggests that these benefits can then in turn aid and encourage easier breastfeeding initiation and bonding allowing smoother transition into parenthood.

Finding someone to hold your hand, someone that has a positive experience in normal physiological birth is important; this could be your mother, your sister, aunty or friend or you could employ a birth companion.

Could you be there for someone you know in birth? Have you had a positive experience in normal physiological birth? Could you inspire confidence in normal physiological birth? If so, consider taking some time out for someone close and bring back the glue that holds communities together!