What is a doula?

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What is a doula?

The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek, meaning "woman's helper".  Nowadays, a doula has come to mean a woman who is trained in childbirth and supports a woman before, during, and after the birth of her baby. A doula provides a woman with emotional support during pregnancy and childbrith.  A doula also provides physical comfort measures during labor and continuous emotional support. Lastly, a doula provides information with which you can make informed decisions about your pregnancy and birth.

 

 

What does a doula do?

A doula will:

bullet Share with you her knowledge of pregnancy and birth.
bullet Get to know you pre-natally, and help you identify what is important to you about your birth.
bullet Attend your birth, day or night, and stay with you until after the baby is born.
bullet Provide physical comfort measures to help you cope with labor including massage, counterpressure, heat and cold.
bullet Facilitate communication between a woman, her partner, and her care providers.
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Work with a woman and her partner to ensure that she receives the support that she needs.

A doula will NOT:

bullet Replace your partner.
bullet Make any medical decisions for you.
bullet Try to talk you out of using pain medication if you feel it is necessary.
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Provide any medical care or advice.

 

 

Benefits of having a doula

Studies on the benefits of having a doula attend your birth include:

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25% decrease in the length of labor

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30% decrease in use of forceps

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30% less likely to use pain medications (narcotics)

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41% less likely to give birth with vacuum extraction or forceps

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50% decrease in cesearean rates

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60% decrease in use of epidurals

In addition, long-term benefits of having a doula include:

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Improved Breastfeeding

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Decreased Postpartum Depression

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Greater Maternal Satisfaction

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Better Mother-Infant Interaction


 Sources:
Continuous Support for Women in Childbirth (2003). E D Hodnett, S Gates, G J Hofmeyr, C Sakala.Continuous emotional support during labor in a US hospital. A randomized controlled trial (1991). C Sakala, M Kennell, M Klaus, SMcGrath, S Robertson, C Hinkley.Journal of American Medical Association 265(17):2197-2201. Comment in: JAMA 1991 May 1;265(1 7):2236-7 Comment in: JAMA 1991 Sep18;266(11):1509-10

 
 

 

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