"When the results of these six studies were calculated together, the presence of a doula reduces the overall cesarean rate by 50 percent, length of labor by 25 percent, oxytocin use by 40 percent, pain medication by 30 percent, the need for forceps by 40 percent, and requests for epidurals by 60 percent."
- Mothering the Mother
Now, this doesn't by any stretch mean having a doula will give you an easy or fast or complication free labor. 🙂 But I thought the findings of the research were really interesting because I'm wondering why? Why does a doula make so much difference? Still reading...