Towards normal birth

These are the results of the online surveys from couples who attended the Calmbirth Pre Natal Education Programme before the birth of their babies between June 2008 and August 2012.

The Calmbirth Pre Natal Education Programme has been shown to

  1. Reduce the use of interventions that women experience in labour, particulaly augmentation of labour and analgesia (see survey results below).
  2. Enhance satisfaction with care during pregnancy and childbirth including social and emotional aspects of care.  Women increased their confidence about birth and decreased their anxiety.
  3. Enable women to have a greater preparedness for birth and early parentng and increased participation in decision-making.
  4. Increase a woman's sense of self confidence and self-esteem in the early post natal period which may have an important role in the prevention of post natal distress or depression.
  5. Reduce the health care costs.

This survey has shown that out of the 2749 calmbirth® mothers

  • 58.1% normal vaginal birth 18.2% normal vaginal birth with assistance
  • 15.9% emergency caesarean 4.8% planned caesarean
  • 46.2% had no analgesia or anesthetic during their labour
  • 28.7% who did use analgesia, used gas only.
  • 24.2% had an epidural.
  • 18.2% reported that generally they would not describe the sensations they experienced during labour as painful
  • 39.7% describing their pain as mild or moderate.
  • 74.6% were able to breastfeed soon after birthing
  • 82% felt a strong bond with their baby immediately after birth