Apgar, NICU Transfer, & Spouse/Partner Presence at Nursing Student Doula Births
Background: The Birth Companions Program (BCP) is a 16-year-old service-learning program and elective birth doula course for baccalaureate nursing students in an East coast school of nursing. Students enroll to gain doula training and get additional birth experience. In addition to the core clinical OB education that students receive, this course prepares students to support women and their families emotionally and physically during the birthing experience. All women who participate in the program receive the support of a student nurse birth doula during the labor and birth. A spouse/partner/other support person accompanies most women during labor and birth, but some are alone and depend on the sole support of the Birth Companion. Birth doulas provide emotional, physical, and informational support before, during, and after the birth of a baby. Research on doula care supports its benefits to improve birth outcomes. The perspective of spouses/partners/others has been identified as a gap in the research literature.
Description: This evaluation reports on the support received by mothers whose infants were at risk of poor outcomes immediately following birth, as evidenced by low Apgar scores and transfer to the NICU. The effect of this experience on the mother and newborn and the presence of a support person in addition to the presence of the Birth Companion are of interest and can inform the program of additional services that are needed and may be provided. In addition, maternal age, education level, breastfeeding initiation, newborn’s gestational age and birth weight, intermittent and continuous fetal monitoring, cesarean section, and satisfaction scores will be compared between mothers who had the support of a spouse/partner/other and those who did not. Statistical analysis of this data utilizing chi- square and t-test were performed.
Conclusion: The findings of this review provide information about the need for birth doulas to further support mothers and their partner/spouse. In particular course content and program services may be identified that can better assist these mothers immediately after birth. Additional efforts to address the psychosocial needs of these mothers and to promote immediate bonding and breastfeeding may be needed. Nursing students who elect this birth doula training gain valuable experience especially with mothers and families who may experience an infant requiring immediate interventions or transferring to the NICU. Having this additional information for nursing students and birth doulas may impact the care nurses provide and lead to more equitable and accessible support to families.