Doula Support During Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Postpartum
Meera Viswanathan, Jennifer Cook Middleton, Nila A. Sathe, Shivani Reddy, LaToshia Rouse, Jessica Vaughan, Shaunette Howard, Rachel Peragallo Urrutia · 2026
Read Doula Support During Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Postpartum by Meera Viswanathan, Jennifer Cook Middleton, Nila A. Sathe, Shivani Reddy, LaToshia Rouse, Jessica Vaughan, Shaunette Howard, Rachel Peragallo Urrutia (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13574363.txt.
Description
Meera Viswanathan and co-authors review doula support across pregnancy and birth in a 2026 analysis. Doulas give steady non-medical support, but the size and certainty of their benefits needed a fresh tally. The team screened trials and comparison studies from United States settings.
Thirty studies met the rules, though most carried high bias risk. Doula support likely lowers preterm birth and cesarean rates and lifts birth experience and postpartum visit attendance. Mood, breastfeeding start, and labor length may also improve. Blood pressure disorders and intensive care admissions showed no clear change. Studies in disparity-affected groups mostly reported some benefit. Dose and doula type remain open questions.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Meera Viswanathan, Jennifer Cook Middleton, Nila A. Sathe, Shivani Reddy, LaToshia Rouse, Jessica Vaughan, Shaunette Howard, Rachel Peragallo Urrutia |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 31 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |