I read an interesting article on the The Irish Times online about birth mentors/antenatal teachers recently.
Women who were mentored while pregnant and encouraged to plan for the birth were found to be almost half as likely to have a Caesarean section as the rest of the population, according to Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital.
The findings were outlined at a conference at the end of 2012, from a study into the impact of early childhood intervention in disadvantaged households.
The project called Preparing for Life is following the progress of 200 mothers and their children in Dublin’s north inner city, from pregnancy until school.
Dr Orla Doyle, research fellow at the UCD Geary Institute, says: "We found that those mothers who had high levels of support from pregnancy had C-section rates of about 15 per cent, while the other group had levels of 25 per cent.”
It just goes to show how beneficial and essential antenatal education is.
Amy Vickers
