The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) which is an organization concerned with the quality of ob/gyn practice in the U.S. Now reccomends continuous labor support by a trained support person like a doula as a strategy for reducing intervention during labor.  Why do we want to reduce interventions during birth, you ask? Interventions such as continuous fetal monitoring, artificial rupture of membranes, pitocin augmentation etc. increase the risk of needing even more serious interventions and can lead to adverse outcomes for mother and baby.