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

Childbirth education is critical to maternal outcomes. Receiving formal education on the birthing process sets the stage for optimal mother/baby bonding, postpartum mood, and future interactions with healthcare professionals. The American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends patients attend birthing classes prior to labor and delivery, however previous studies found that attendance is dropping with only 56% of first-time mothers attending childbirth education classes in 2005 compared to 70% in 2001.

Multiple barriers to accessing prenatal childbirth education have been identified. Traditionally, childbirth education classes are structured as in person lectures with multiple sessions over a period of weeks and are taken prior to the onset of labor. Most childbirth education classes have accompanying costs ranging from $20-$50 for hospital classes and hundreds of dollars for private classes. Significant barriers impact patients ability to attend these classes including difficulty obtaining childcare, financial constraints, getting time off from work, and obtaining transportation. The Coronavirus pandemic has further worsened barriers to accessing childbirth education as most in-person group classes have been cancelled due to lack of funding or need for social distancing.

Most childbirth education focuses on preparation for labor and pain management in the first stage of labor neglecting the second stage. This is the stage of labor that requires the most maternal involvement and effort. Among women with epidural anesthesia pushing may not be instinctive and hence, coaching and preparation are integral to success.

The current standard of care for teaching a patient how to push is nurse-led coaching performed at the bedside immediately before the patient starts pushing. At this point, most patients are tired, anxious, and have not had enough time to process the new knowledge learned about how to push. A long or abnormal second stage is associated with adverse outcomes such as cesarean delivery, infection, and hemorrhage. Nulliparous patients are especially vulnerable to these adverse outcomes in the second stage so long as they do not feel empowered, knowledgeable, or involved in their own birth experiences.

Previous literature shows that coached pushing can decrease second stage duration up to 13 minutes. This is important as a prolonged second stage of labor is associated with maternal and neonatal morbidity including higher rates of cesarean delivery, chorioamnionitis, perineal trauma, NICU admission, neonatal sepsis, and APGAR score < 4 at 5 minutes. In most clinical scenarios, the standard of care is coaching or guidance from the nurse or provider once the patient reaches complete dilation. There are limitations to this approach as waiting to coach after a potentially long and arduous labor course is suboptimal. While physicians and nurses are qualified to coach, they may not be universally available to all patients and the quality of coaching may be impacted by volume and acuity on Labor & Delivery.