The Million Dollar Question: What is a doula?

The term “Doula” comes from the Greek word for “servant". Doulas are skilled labor assistants, and can also be call birth assistants, labor support professionals, and birth companions. Doulas are women who are passionate about birth and are dedicated to making the experience as comfortable and memorable as possible.  Before labor, a doula can provide the mother with information, help create a birth plan, and will want to get to know a mother and her partner before the birth. During labor, a doula provides a mother and her partner with continuous, uninterrupted support. This is accomplished through positioning, massage, emotional support, and relaxation techniques.  Additionally, a doula can facilitate communication with the caregiver. Once the baby is born, a doula can assist in establishing breastfeeding and help get the new family settled immediately after birth.

Doulas are not meant to replace fathers or other support persons during the labor and delivery process.  The doula works as a member of their team.  She can help the father assume the level of participation with which he is most comfortable.  A doula can help reassure both the mother and the father (or support person), provide encouragment to them both, and help the father find ways to be an active participant in the birth.

Using a doula during labor and delivery has been shown in many clinical trials to:

• Reduce the length of labor by 25%

• Reduce the use of oxytocin by 40%

• Reduce epidural requests by 60%

• Reduce the use of analgesia by 30%

• Reduce the cesarean rate by 50%

*Summarized from Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, Healthier Birth by Marshall H. Klaus, Perseus Press, 1993

Hiring a doula does not mean you can only have a natural birth!

This is your birth experience.  You and your support people decide on the best choices for you.  I can assist with Cesarean births and in births where epidurals are used.  Each situation brings different challenges, and every mother, no matter what choices she makes, can benefit from the support of a doula.