Family-Centered Care and Continuous Labor Support
Creating a family-centered approach to prenatal and intrapartum care has potential to lead to positive maternal and neonatal outcomes. Continuous labor support (CLS) for families is paramount to positive outcomes for mothers and their babies. Combining family-centered maternity care and CLS during prenatal care, and labor and delivery has been discussed throughout the literature, but implementing this model has been challenging. Registered nurses in labor and delivery are often the primary source of support for families; however, the registered nurse has many roles to fulfill during a labor and delivery admission, and oftentimes, family-centered care and CLS are easily relegated to the fringes of his/her responsibilities. Given the somewhat predictable nature of labor and delivery care, routine integration of doulas for CLS has the potential to provide the support and family-centered care that families need. Providing CLS during birth experience has the potential to increase confidence and fosters a holistic foundation for the new family.
Abstract and Introduction
Introduction
Creating a family-centered approach to prenatal and intrapartum care has potential to lead to positive maternal and neonatal outcomes. Continuous labor support (CLS) for families is paramount to positive outcomes for mothers and their babies. Combining family-centered maternity care and CLS during prenatal care, and labor and delivery has been discussed throughout the literature, but implementing this model has been challenging. Registered nurses in labor and delivery are often the primary source of support for families; however, the registered nurse has many roles to fulfill during a labor and delivery admission, and oftentimes, family-centered care and CLS are easily relegated to the fringes of his/her responsibilities. Given the somewhat predictable nature of labor and delivery care, routine integration of doulas for CLS has the potential to provide the support and family-centered care that families need. Providing CLS during birth experience has the potential to increase confidence and fosters a holistic foundation for the new family.