Efficacy of an educational manual for childbirth companions: pilot study of a randomized clinical trial.
Liana Mara Rocha Teles, Camila Félix Américo, Mônica Oliveira Batista Oriá and 3 others
PMID 29742273WHAT IT FOUND
A childbirth companion manual increased support actions (7.2 vs 4.6) and women reported better birth experiences.
Trained companions were less satisfied with staff care, so treat it as pilot evidence.
Key findings
01Companions who used the manual performed more support actions (7.2 ± 1.8 versus 4.6 ± 2.5; p = 0.001).
02Women whose companions used the manual had higher means on all evaluated childbirth-experience subscales.
03Manual-trained companions were less satisfied with the way labor took place and with staff care during labor (76.2% versus 95.5%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a pilot randomized trial with no sample-size calculation, so it was not powered to confirm effectiveness. The intervention and control groups were unequal (21 versus 44 companions). Participants knew their allocation, and outcomes were self-reported by companions and women after birth. The main companion-support instrument was not psychometrically validated for use in Brazil. Many recruited companions did not attend the birth, and cesarean births were excluded, so the findings apply mainly to vaginal births with a companion present. Control care included routine prenatal guidance and an institutional childbirth course, so the manual was added to usual education rather than compared with no education.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding sources or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the manual improves maternal or neonatal health outcomes. It was a small pilot, the primary outcome was the number of support actions by companions, and trained companions were less satisfied with staff care.