Combined Psychological Nursing and Midwife-Led Positional Care Reduces Labor Duration in Nulliparous Women: A...

To investigate the effects of psychological nursing combined with midwife-led positional care on labor duration and delivery outcomes in nulliparous women undergoing vaginal delivery.

This retrospective study included 110 nulliparous women who underwent vaginal delivery in our hospital's obstetrics department between August 2023 and January 2025. Participants were divided into an observation group (n = 55, receiving psychological nursing combined with midwife-led positional care) and a control group (n = 55, receiving routine nursing interventions). Labor duration, sense of labor control, anxiety/depression scores, health knowledge mastery, and self-efficacy were compared between the two groups.

No significant differences were observed in baseline clinical characteristics (eg, age) between the groups (P > 0.05), indicating comparability. The observation group exhibited significantly shorter labor durations during both the first and second stages of labor compared to the control group (402.65 ± 61.51/39.78 ± 5.91 vs 311.56 ± 50.69/26.58 ± 5.31, P < 0.05). Scores on the Labor Control Scale were markedly higher in the observation group (141.56 ± 11.6 1 vs 68.54 ± 12.61, P < 0.05). Post-intervention, the observation group reported lower anxiety (HAMA) and depression (HAMD) scores than the control group (13.14 ± 2.11/10.65 ± 1.45 vs 8.25 ± 1.52/7.34 ± 1.28, P < 0.05). Health knowledge levels regarding childbirth were significantly superior in the observation group (78.23 ± 5.56 vs 90.11 ± 5.14, P < 0.05), as were post-intervention CBSEI-C32 self-efficacy scores (88.23 ± 2.88 vs 98.56 ± 1.17, P < 0.05).

The integration of psychological nursing with midwife-led positional care effectively shortens labor duration, enhances health knowledge mastery and sense of labor control, alleviates negative emotions, and improves self-efficacy in nulliparous women. This joint intervention plan has empirical basis for clinical implementation.