Trial reportBMC medicine2007
Promoting childbirth companions in South Africa: a randomised pilot study.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06085105 (Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience (CPIPE) Study: A Cluster Randomized-controlled Trial to Assess the Impact of the CPIPE Intervention on Person-centered Maternity Care
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- The roles of multi-component interventions in reducing mistreatment of women and enhancing respectful maternity care: a systematic review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effectiveness of respectful care policies for women using routine intrapartum services: a systematic review.Reproductive health · 2018Pooled it
- Continuous support for women during childbirth.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- The Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth in Health Facilities Globally: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.PLoS medicine · 2015Pooled it
- Continuous support for women during childbirth.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- A 10 year (2000-2010) systematic review of interventions to improve quality of care in hospitals.BMC health services research · 2012Pooled it
- Lay health workers in primary and community health care for maternal and child health and the management of infectious diseases.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2010Pooled it
- Impact of the Strengthening Teamwork and Respect (STAR) intervention on organisational learning culture and person-centred maternity care in rural South Africa: an uncontrolled before-and-after implementation study.The Lancet regional health. Africa · 2026Article
- Content and design of respectful maternity care training packages for health workers in sub-Saharan Africa: Scoping review.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- Embracing support: Women's preferences and challenges for husband's companionship during labor in the Indian context - A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Article
- Case for improving respectful care: results from a cross-sectional survey of person-centred maternity care in rural South Africa.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Implementing maternal and newborn health quality of care standards in healthcare facilities to improve the adoption of respectful maternity care in Bangladesh, Ghana and Tanzania: a controlled before and after study.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Theories for interventions to reduce physical and verbal abuse: A mixed methods review of the health and social care literature to inform future maternity care.PLOS global public health · 2023Review
- Father involvement, maternal depression and child nutritional outcomes in Soweto, South Africa.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Article
- Birth companionship in a government health system: a pilot study in Kigoma, Tanzania.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Midwives' perspectives on person-centred maternity care in public hospitals in South-east Nigeria: A mixed-method study.PloS one · 2021Article
- Promoting respectful maternity care for adolescents in Ghana: a quasi-experimental study protocol.Reproductive health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMost women delivering in South African State Maternity Hospitals do not have a childbirth companion; in addition, the quality of care could be better, and at times women are treated inhumanely. We piloted a multi-faceted intervention to encourage uptake of childbirth companions in state hospitals, and hypothesised that lay carers would improve the behaviour of health professionals.
methodsWe conducted a pilot randomised controlled trial of an intervention to promote childbirth companions in hospital deliveries. We promoted evidence-based information for maternity staff at 10 hospitals through access to the World Health Organization Reproductive Health Library (RHL), computer hardware and training to all ten hospitals. We surveyed 200 women at each site, measuring companionship, and indicators of good obstetric practice and humanity of care. Five hospitals were then randomly allocated to receive an educational intervention to promote childbirth companions, and we surveyed all hospitals again at eight months through a repeat survey of postnatal women. Changes in median values between intervention and control hospitals were examined.
resultsAt baseline, the majority of hospitals did not allow a companion, or access to food or fluids. A third of women were given an episiotomy. Some women were shouted at (17.7%, N = 2085), and a few reported being slapped or struck (4.3%, N = 2080). Despite an initial positive response from staff to the childbirth companion intervention, we detected no difference between intervention and control hospitals in relation to whether a companion was allowed by nursing staff, good obstetric practice or humanity of care.
conclusionThe quality and humanity of care in these state hospitals needs to improve. Introducing childbirth companions was more difficult than we anticipated, particularly in under-resourced health care systems with frequent staff changes. We were unable to determine whether the presence of a lay carer impacted on the humanity of care provided by health professionals.
trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN33728802.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.