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.
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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.
I have witnessed the births of my three children. From just being in the room I can tell you that childbirth is harder than you can imagine. I kind of wonder if Susan Heavey, the author of this article, or the "experts" have actually given birth themselves. When your body is literally being turned inside out, that 13 minutes does make a difference. Think about it. If you were covered in molasses and eaten by a colony of red ants, would you rather it last for 46 minutes or for 59?
The 14 hour figure is misleading. When you are in the delivery room, the mother does not spend 14 hours huffing and puffing like Bill Cosby would have you think. She's in bed, hopefully being medicated for pain with an epidural (all hail the epidural...God bless and beatify its inventor), and being made as comfortable as possible as she...waits. I would estimate that for 13 of those 14 hours the attending physician and nurses (& nervous father) are waiting for the following magic words: ten centimeters. Then, you have anywhere from a half an hour to an hour of actual pushing at every contraction. The final stage is the only significant stage where coaching has any application. Shaving 13 minutes off of an hour of pushing is a mammoth percentage change of 22%. When you are pushing a bowling ball through a eye socket-sized opening, that is significant, both physically and psychologically.
Sorry for my ignorance, but what does coaching do that non-coaching does not?
Posted by: Dave | January 03, 2006 at 12:36 PM
'A new study is out that casts doubt on the effectiveness of coaching in making the childbirth process any easier.'
Like they needed a study to tell them that? I could have saved them a lot of money.
Posted by: ICallMasICM | January 03, 2006 at 12:55 PM
I made it through all 6 of my kids births in the d-room, even though as a coach I was mainly in the way....but the hardest has been sitting outside not knowing what is going on with 3 out of 4 grandkids...that is a near-killer...I told them that next time, I'll be in the local pub and just call me when its over.
Posted by: tom | January 03, 2006 at 09:07 PM
Maybe I'm not quite sure what 'coaching' means. I was with my wife during the birth of our son, and my role as coach had little to do with instructions and telling her when to push.
Mine was a role of encouragement and support, letting her know how she was doing, how brave and beautiful she was, and making sure she was as comfortable as possible. Of course, I can't speak for my wife, but I'm sure I can safely say that the birth would've been much more difficult had she been alone.
The body is designed to do what needs to be done, without being told. What I was taught in birthing classes, and learned in the delivery room, is that being a coach is about being there.
What I find curious is the reasearchers' focus on duration. Does a shorter delivery make for an 'easier' one?
Posted by: Jared | January 05, 2006 at 02:35 PM