What is a Doula?

What is a Doula?

A doula (pronounced doola) is a trained and experienced labor companion who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth (natural or medicated childbirth).
Additionally, a doula supports a woman’s partner and family so that they in turn know how to best support her during labor.

A Labor Support Doula:

Recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life.

Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor.

Assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth.

Stays by the side of the laboring woman throughout her entire labor.

Provides emotional support, physical comfort and an objective viewpoint.

Provides assistance to the woman in getting the information she needs to make informed decisions.

Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and her health care provider(s).

Perceives her role as one who nurtures and protects the woman's memory of her birth experience.

Practices confidentiality.

What exactly does a doula do - or what will you (I) be doing as a doula?  Doula's have many different roles and it really is up to the client as what she wants.  I could be starting a pregnancy with someone and helping her through the end...even up through postpartum.  Or I may just help someone at the beginning, but not be there at the birth, and then be there through breastfeeding and postpartum.  I am there to support and encourage my client in whatever needs they might have.  That could be helping her work through a birth plan and setting expectations for how she wants her delivery to go, taking her to appointments, making sure her birth plan is carried out when she is in labor, taking picures, helping her with different labor strategies, listen, encourage, support, help her communicate to her doctors or family if needed, etc. 

Do you deliver the baby or give medical advice?  No.  I can give suggestions or recomendations based on things I have studied, but I will not be giving medical advice.  It is highly unlikely that I would be delivering any babies!  We'll leave that to the highly paid doctors.

Why would I "pay" you to be my coach (when I am already paying the hospital)?  There are several reasons one might pay to have a doula.  If you are planning to have a natural birth (no medications), a doula is a huge benefit.  It has been researched that if a woman who is going to try a natural birth has a "coach/cheerleader", they are more likely able to get through it then if alone or with a partner that can't support them in this way (honestly our husbands aren't always the best coach).  By doing so, a doula cost is about 1/2 of what an epidural will cost you on your medical bill. 
A recent study here shows these results:

Reduced the overall cesarean rate by 50%

Reduced the length of labor by 25%

Reduced oxytocin use by 40%

Reduced the use of pain medication by 30%

Reduced forceps deliveries by 40%

Reduced requests for epidural pain medication by 60%

Reduced incidences of maternal fever

Reduced the number of days newborns spent in NICU (neo-natal infant care unit)

Reduced the amount of septic workups performed on newborns

Resulted in higher rates of breastfeeding

Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal confidence

Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal and newborn health

Resulted in decreased rates of postpartum depression

Klaus and Kennel speculate that the mere presence of a doula had a beneficial effect on the emotional state of the mother, resulting in a decrease in catecholamines (adrenaline). This relaxed state allows uterine contractions to be more effective and reduces the occurrence of compromised uterine blood flow.

Insurance companies are taking note of the proven benefits of doula-assisted births. As a result, some providers have started to reimburse for doula care. If your company health care plan covers in-home care, nursing care, lactation consulting, or similar fields, doula care is most likely covered as well.


Why are you doing this?  I have seen first hand that most doctors/hospitals view birth as an abnormal medical emergency when it it is a normal life event.  Yes, there can be things that happen that are abnormal but most births should be considered normal and natural.  Because doctors view them as abnormal medical events, they tend to intervene when unnecessary which can make labor and delivery much worse for mothers and their babies (inductions, breaking bags of water prematurely, timing labors, etc).  I won't go into specifics here, but maybe for another post or talk outside the blog.  Alot of it comes down to the fact that doctors/hospitals want babies delievered in a timely fashion because of their work schedule and efficiences in the hospitals/workers schedules instead of letting the body do its natural thing.  If you think about it, birth has been around for...well EVER.  The main reason the birth process was brought to the hospitals was due to infections most of which we have vaccines for now.  Births use to take place at home with the help of a coach, midwife, mother, sisters, friends and family - a very supportive environment.  With the transition to hospitals, males were the only ones who were able to get an education as a doctor and that I believe led to a misunderstanding of the birth process and made it into a medical, highly intervened "project" (you know how men are!).  This has also resulted in increased c-sections and mortality rates for mothers and infants. 

Are doula's only "good" for those who want a natural birth (with no medications)?  No.  (see benefits above) I am here to see to it that you have the birth experience that you want.  I am neutral when it comes to receiving medications to relieve pain in labor or going natural.  My job would then be to go through the benefits and risks to both so that YOU can make the decison for yourself.  The more prepared you can be before labor and delivery - the better you will be feeling (calmer, fears subided, etc).  In whatever you decide, I am here to support and encourage you.  If it is with no medications, I have learned techniques to dealing with pain in natural ways. 

If you have further questions, you can always email me, post a comment/question on the blog, or see me.  I would love to answer them.