What is a Doula?
A woman trained in childbirth hired by the family to provide informational, emotional, and physical support continuously during pregnancy, labor and birth. May include the following:
What is a Birth Doula?
A Birth Doula helps the family create a ‘birth plan’, uses comfort measures like massage during labor, helps the family stay informed, encourages and reassures the mother and father continuously through labor up to a few hours directly after birth.
What is a Postpartum Doula?
Postpartum Doula lovingly supports the family after the baby is born doing light house cleaning/cooking, breastfeeding support, help with infant care, and helps the family transition to life with a new baby.
Is a Doula a Midwife?
No. A Doula provides non-medical support and her main priority is the emotional well-being of the family. She does not do heart tone checks, exams or any medical procedure like a midwife would.
Do I have to have my baby at home?
No. A doula supports a family in every birth environment whether with a midwife at home, or birthing center, or an OB at the hospital.
Does a doula replace a dad/partner?
No. A doula’s role is to support the family unit. This includes encouraging the father to get involved and support the mother in the way only her partner intimately can to the extent he/she feel comfortable. This also includes supporting the partner as they become a parent as well.
Does a doula replace a nursing staff?
No. A doula provides one-to-one care for the birthing family. While a doula doesn’t do medical tasks, she does help the family achieve the information they need to make informed choices should an intervention arise.
What if the mother isn’t planning a natural birth?
If the mother decides on any intervention such as pain medication; the comfort, knowledge and reassurance of a doula is essential to the overall outcome of a positive labor and birth.
Why have a Doula?
A doula provides support the family, nursing staff and care provider usually are unable to provide. This support empowers the mother to make choices, and creates an atmosphere for an empowering birth. The mother then carries over that empowerment into her motherhood.
Doulas are also linked to:
A woman trained in childbirth hired by the family to provide informational, emotional, and physical support continuously during pregnancy, labor and birth. May include the following:
- Helps the family prenatally to put together a birth preference list
- Massage and other forms of reassuring touch
- Encourage the mother to ask questions
- Ensure the mother understands the events taking place during her birth
- Encourages the mother to make decisions during her care
- Verbal encouragement and reassurance
- Offers alternatives
- Creates a comfortable laboring environment (dim lights, soft music, aromatherapy, etc)
- Reassures the mother as she moves through her labor, even when challenges arise
- Some doulas also use aromatherapy and other tools during a woman’s birth
- Suggests different positions to speed up/slow down labor or make labor more comfortable
- Provides support during breastfeeding
- Supports the family unit; fathers, grandparents, aunts, siblings, etc
- A doula does not make decisions for clients or intervene in their clinical care. She provides support while respecting the woman’s decisions.
What is a Birth Doula?
A Birth Doula helps the family create a ‘birth plan’, uses comfort measures like massage during labor, helps the family stay informed, encourages and reassures the mother and father continuously through labor up to a few hours directly after birth.
What is a Postpartum Doula?
Postpartum Doula lovingly supports the family after the baby is born doing light house cleaning/cooking, breastfeeding support, help with infant care, and helps the family transition to life with a new baby.
Is a Doula a Midwife?
No. A Doula provides non-medical support and her main priority is the emotional well-being of the family. She does not do heart tone checks, exams or any medical procedure like a midwife would.
Do I have to have my baby at home?
No. A doula supports a family in every birth environment whether with a midwife at home, or birthing center, or an OB at the hospital.
Does a doula replace a dad/partner?
No. A doula’s role is to support the family unit. This includes encouraging the father to get involved and support the mother in the way only her partner intimately can to the extent he/she feel comfortable. This also includes supporting the partner as they become a parent as well.
Does a doula replace a nursing staff?
No. A doula provides one-to-one care for the birthing family. While a doula doesn’t do medical tasks, she does help the family achieve the information they need to make informed choices should an intervention arise.
What if the mother isn’t planning a natural birth?
If the mother decides on any intervention such as pain medication; the comfort, knowledge and reassurance of a doula is essential to the overall outcome of a positive labor and birth.
Why have a Doula?
A doula provides support the family, nursing staff and care provider usually are unable to provide. This support empowers the mother to make choices, and creates an atmosphere for an empowering birth. The mother then carries over that empowerment into her motherhood.
Doulas are also linked to:
- Fewer needs for Cesareans, labor stimulants (pitocin), and other interventions
- Reduces the request for pain medications and epidurals
- Shortens labor with fewer complications
- Increases the occurrence of a positive birth experience
- Better breastfeeding success
- Less postpartum mood disorders
- Less babies needing NICU and shorter hospital stays
