We've all seen it in the movies: The man in blue hospital scrubs holding his wife's hand in the delivery room telling her to push. But does this really help labor along or just give the nervous dad-to-be something to do?

In a study published in the January 2006 edition of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers found that women who were told to "push" during contractions didn't birth much faster than women who just did what their bodies told them.

Babies in the group that was coached to push made their appearances on average only 13 minutes earlier than babies in the uncoached group, and no other differences or benefits were noted in the coached group. Could "push, push, push" soon be a passe phrase in the labor and delivery room?

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas looked at 320 women who were giving birth for the first time. None had complicated pregnancies, none received an epidural and they were randomly assigned. The 163 women in the "coached" group were told to push for 10 seconds during a contraction, while the 157 women in the "uncoached" group were told to "do what comes naturally."

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