What is a doula

The word doula comes from the ancient Greek meaning "woman servant" and now refers to a woman trained and experienced in childbirth and postpartum who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during, and after childbirth. Doulas provide:

• Physical support

• Emotional Support

• Informational Support

• Advocacy

• An Additional Pair of Hands

Birth Doula

A doula is a woman trained and experienced in childbirth who provides support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth. A doula has either been through childbirth herself or has attended other births, has studied birth and done extensive reading. She draws upon this experience, providing numerous benefits to the laboring mother, her partner, and extended family, if they are present.

Postpartum Doula

A postpartum doula is a supportive advisor and helper. A Postpartum doula provides evidenced based information on things such as infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from birth, mother – baby bonding, infant soothing, and basic newborn care. They are there to help a new family in those first days and weeks after bringing home a new baby.

What the experts say

Research indicates that the presence of a birth doula:

• Decreases the need for cesarean by 50%

• Increases the chances of unmedicated birth by 30-60%

• Decreases the length of labor by 25%

• Decreases the use of oxytocin by 40%

• Decreases requests for epidural by 60%

• Decreases the need for other interventions with mother and baby

• Increases the mother’s and father’s satisfaction with the experience.

Research also shows that having a postpartum doula:

• Improves breasteeding rates

• Reduced postpartum depression

• Eases the transition to parenthood

• Boosts confidence

The Value of Labor and Postpartum Support

Women supporting women leading them through the labor and birth experiences and is an ancient tradition that had been all but lost in our culture. Birth in the U.S. became a medicalized and isolating experience – the extreme point coming in the 1950’s and 60’s when women often gave birth without any family members present, strapped to the bed and medicated. As a result, women lost confidence in their bodies’ ability to birth naturally and without intervention. Doulas fill the void by providing women/birthing people with the knowledge and support needed to help them realize that labor and birth can be normal and joyful – helping women to reclaim the birthing experience.

A birth doula is a person trained and experienced in childbirth who provides support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth. A doula has either been through childbirth herself or has attended other births, has studied birth and done extensive reading. She draws upon this experience, providing numerous benefits to the laboring mother, her partner, and extended family, if they are present.

A doula understands that birth is a natural and normal process and her calming presence alone in the midst of labor can set the tone for others in the room and is one of the most important things she offers to the birthing couple. The doula does not control the birth and cannot tell the mother what to do. Rather, she remains in tune with the woman and uses her observation skills to recognize what stage of labor the mother is in, what comfort measures or rituals are working for her, and whether she needs something different. The doula then responds with suggestions, encouragement, and hands on comfort.

A doula has many things in her “bag of tricks” to keep the mother calm and comfortable. These include hands-on comfort such as massage, counterpressure, heat or cold, and position changes, emotional support and encouragement, and knowledge and information about hospital procedures, interventions, and labor and delivery. The doula understands the various emotional signposts of labor and gives the woman and her partner encouragement that they can make it through, much like a cheerleader to someone running a long race. Because the doula is not emotionally tied to the laboring woman, she can offer them a non-biased perspective when guiding the couple in decisions about pain medication or interventions.

The doula frees the partner up to emotionally support the laboring mother/birthing person and fully experience the birth, rather than having to provide all of the labor support, remember comfort measures they may have learned, and coordinate with the hospital staff. The birth of their child is often the first time a partner has seen labor and delivery first-hand, so having an experienced doula can really set them at ease since she can tell them what to expect and can answer questions they may have.

Numerous studies have shown that there are absolutely no risks to having a doula present at a birth, thus labor support can only be a benefit to the laboring couple. The Cochrane review concluded that the presence of a doula helps the couple to have a safe and satisfying birth experience and that all women should have labor support at their birth. Further, studies by Klaus, Kennell, & Klaus have shown that use of a labor support increases positive outcomes including less need for pain medication, less pitocin, lower cesarean rate, better overall obstetric outcomes, and couple’s satisfactions with the birth experience, and facilitates better mother-infant bonding and higher breastfeeding success.

A doula is an important member of the birthing team, creating a calm tone for the birth, helping the couple to feel cared for throughout the process, empowering women to trust their bodies, and helping them to have the joyful birth experience they want and deserve.

For much of history, one’s community came around new parents to support them after the birth as well. Experienced mothers and sometimes fathers provided care for other children and made meals and chores so mother could rest and modeled how to care for the new baby. Many cultures around the world still do this, but most of us no longer live in communal cultures in the United States. New parents often have little or no experience taking care of a newborn and many have not been around babies. It is also common to live far away from grandparents. The parents are expected to figure out how to feed and care for a newborn and understand their cues and signals alone – all while existing on little sleep and/or recovering from childbirth or surgery and going through huge hormonal shifts. This is A LOT to ask.

This is where postpartum doulas can bridge the gap. They come alongside new parents to support them and ease them into parenthood. They are experienced in breastfeeding, postpartum recovery, baby wearing and baby care and help new parents to know what to expect, what is normal, and how to do tasks, and to gain confidence in t heir and parenting. A Postpartum doula is a supportive advisor and helper who is professionally trained. They am there to share with parents the latest information and research on baby care so that they can make informed choices about care options. A doula is am not there to impose their parenting style or goals. They are also an extra pair of hands to do the dishes or hold the baby while parents shower and someone to make sure they have nourishing snacks and light meals available.

Postpartum doulas are not a babysitter, housekeeper or chef. They don’t do medical tasks or make decisions for you. Their job is to give new parents confidence in their abilities so that when they eave at the end of their contact, the parents feel able to take on their new roles.

Research shows that having adequate support after birth lowers the risks of postpartum mood disorders, increases breastfeeding rates, speeds recovery, and improves parent’s confidence.Other benefits for parents include having more milk due to higher oxytocin rates, learning infant care skills much faster, and being able to understand the communication and needs of your baby.