en Life Science Life Science مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><strong><span style="background:#2D7F8F;"><span style="color:white;">&nbsp;Background & Objective:</span></span></strong> &nbsp;<span style="color:black;">Based on the cultural and structural boundaries in Iran in terms of the presence of doulas through the delivery, the importance of making the delivery more desirable for mothers, and since few important studies have been conducted on this topic in Iran, this study evaluated the effects of the presence of a doula on anxiety and pain in pregnant women during delivery.</span><br> <strong><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt;background:#2D7F8F;"><span style="color:white;">&nbsp;Materials & Methods:</span></span></strong> &nbsp;<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt;"><span style="color:black;">This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 80 pregnant women referred to Ayatollah Musavi Hospital (Zanjan, Iran) in 2016. For women in the intervention group, the doula provided emotional and physical support. The mothers&#39; pain severity and anxiety were measured by using a visual analog scale (VAS) and Spielberger questionnaire, respectively. Categorical and continuous variables were compared using chi-square and <em>t</em> tests, respectively.</span></span><br> <strong><span style="background:#2D7F8F;"><span style="color:white;">&nbsp;Results: </span></span></strong>&nbsp;<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt;"><span style="color:black;">We found that a higher proportion of patients had experienced mild anxiety about entering the postpartum period (47.5% vs 15%) and exiting it (80% vs 40%; <em>P</em><0.05) compared to the control group. &nbsp;Also, the mean VAS score was significantly higher in the control group at 4-5 cm (86.5&plusmn;11.39 vs 78.62&plusmn;14.0; <em>P</em>=0.007) and 7-8 cm of cervical dilatation (99.0&plusmn;4.41 vs 95.0&plusmn;8.47; <em>P</em>=0.01) stages.</span></span><br> <strong><span style="background:#2D7F8F;"><span style="color:white;">&nbsp;Conclusion: </span></span></strong>&nbsp;<span style="color:black;">The presence of a trained doula during labor can ease the mental consequences of delivery and decrease women&#39;s anxiety and pain during labor.</span></span></span></p> <div> <div><div id="_com_1" uage="JavaScript"></div></div> </div> Doulas, Labor, Emotions, Anxiety, Pain 316 322 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2336-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Atefeh Kazemi Robati nargestavakoli64@gmail.com 5200319475328460056516 5200319475328460056516 No Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Behnaz Molaei afshari_m20@yahoo.com 5200319475328460056517 5200319475328460056517 Yes Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Nima Motamed pa@gmail.com 5200319475328460056518 5200319475328460056518 No Dept. of Social Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Robabeh Hatami dosti@yahoo.com 5200319475328460056519 5200319475328460056519 No Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Hamideh Gholami majid@yahoo.com 5200319475328460056520 5200319475328460056520 No Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Anita Ahmadi Birjandi ahmadi@yahoo.com 5200319475328460056521 5200319475328460056521 No Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Mina Esmkhani Esmkhani@yahoo.com 5200319475328460056522 5200319475328460056522 No Dept. of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran