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Desmond P. J. Barton, FRCS(Edin), MRCOG
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute University of South Florida Tampa

JAMA. 1991;266(11):1509.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

— I write concerning the report by Kennell et al¹ regarding the value of emotional support for women in labor that can be provided by a sympathetic and informed female doula. This draws attention to a philosophy of the management of labor to which I had recently been exposed during a 2-year period in the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.

Although the probable importance of emotional support in labor provided by a personal attendant seems to have been confirmed in some populations in recent studies,² it is not a new concept and, in fact, has been a central feature of the management of labor in the Dublin institution.³ Reports from the National Maternity Hospital have emphasized the low intervention rate and low cesarean section rate.⁴ This management, applicable to nulliparous patients in spontaneous labor with a single gestation and cephalic presentation,³ . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by Drummond Rennie, MD, Deputy Editor (West), and Bruce B. Dan, MD, Senior Editor.

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