Impact of a Video Education Tool for the Second Stage of Labor

Detailed Summary

The second stage of labor or the pushing stage can be challenging and intimidating for patients delivering for the fist time. Among women with neuraxial anesthesia pushing may not be instinctive and therefore various coaching methods are used to maximize maternal expulsive efforts and minimize pushing time. Time intensive strategies including transperineally ultrasound and bio-feedback have been employed to assist with pushing but they are difficult to implement widely. While some women may attend birthing classes or have previously been coached on pushing prior to the onset of labor, many women are unable to access classes prior to labor or do not retain what they learned in a class weeks prior to labor. Previous studies have evaluated the effect of coached pushing on the length of second stage and have indicated that coaching can decrease the second stage up to 13 minutes. In most clinical scenarios, coaching or guidance from the nurse or provider happens once the patient attains complete dilation. There are limitations to this approach as waiting to coach after a potentially long and arduous labor is suboptimal. Therefore, we propose a randomized controlled trial investigating the use of an educational video during the first stage of labor on length of the second stage.

Study Details

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Interventions