Effect of Support during Childbirth on Maternal and Fetal Outcome

Abstract

Labor is considered a stressful time for every mother in labor. Women during labor are exposed to series of labor discomforts such as patn, fatigue, nausea, hunger, and discomfort position. Furthermore, psychological variables as fear and anxiety can influence the degree of pain experienced, and also women's ability to cope with it (May and Elton, 1998). Nurses, midwives, and physicians with the potential benefits of improved labor progress, reduction in use of the harmful medications effects, patient satisfaction, and lower costs can initiate many simple, effective, low cost methods to relieve labor pain, and thus diminishing the painful stimulus at the source, providing alternate stimuli to inhibit pain awareness, and reducing the woman's negative reaction to the pain (Simkin, 1995). Nursing interventions during labor aim to provide suitable comfort measures, which help to relieve discomfort during labor.

Current forms of analgesia often have significant side effects for women in labor. Bathing in warm water during labor has been reported to increase a woman's comfort level and