«The doula's presence decreases labor length, significantly decreases cesarean sections, means less
use of pain medicine and gives greater breastfeeding rates.»
MetLife based this determination on a high level
of pain medicine in his system, even though the medical examiner told MetLife that the high level was not due to taking excessive medication, but was physiologically related to the trauma of the accident.
Al Jazeera also spoke to Linda Martin, a former member of the Followers of Christ, who described the suffering of her nephew who was born with spina bifida and
deprived of pain medicine and even a wheelchair.
Research tells us that mothers that have doula care have lower risk of cesarean, lower
rates of pain medicine and epidurals, higher breastfeeding rates, higher satisfaction of birth experiences, higher rates of vaginal birth after cesarean.
«The core issue really is the lack of productive and coordinated translational research over the past five decades, which has resulted in pain management overwhelmingly relying on opioid analgesics,» says Jianren Mao, vice chair for research and
chief of pain medicine in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
«The results were astounding,» says Nikolai Bogduk, MD, a
professor of pain medicine at the Newcastle Bone and Joint Institute, in Newcastle, Australia.
Speaking at the International Conference on Opioids held at Harvard Medical School, Mr. Wish addressed potential criminal charges prosecutors could bring related to the
prescription of pain medicine, and educated physicians about the steps one may take to minimize the risks of prosecution.
Continuous care and support from a midwife or doula throughout labor has been associated with lower rates of the
use of pain medicine, incidence of C - sections and other interventions in addition to shorter labors and greater overall satisfaction with the birth experience.
The
practice of pain medicine is multi-disciplinary in approach, incorporating modalities from various specialties to ensure the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of the pain patient.