What is a Doula?
Birth Doula
What do birth doulas offer?
Physical Support
Position ideas for comfort and labor progression cross over with hands-on comfort measures like comforting touch, counter pressure, breathing techniques and other “doula magic” for families. A doula’s skilled hands and positioning tools can often help a malpositioned baby find its way through the pelvis and into the birthing parent’s arms.
Emotional Support
Doulas help families to feel supported, easing the emotional experience of birth and also helping to create a space where the hormones of labor can work at their best. Whether a birth is completely unmedicated or medically very complex, every family can benefit from nurturing and connection at this tender, incredible time in their lives.
Partner Support
Whether it’s a romantic partner, a friend or another family member like the baby’s grandma, the birth partner’s experience matters in birth. Our doulas are there to support every birth partner in being as involved as they’d like with the birth. Physical and emotional support make a huge difference for everyone involved.
Evidence-Based Information and Advocacy
Trained doulas are trained to help families connect with evidence-based resources so they can ask great questions and make informed decisions about their births. Doulas serve as a bridge of communication between women and their providers, lifting them up to help them find their voices and advocate for the very best care.
Information via DONA.
Postpartum Doula
What do Postpartum doulas offer?
Physical Support
That initial transition from hospital to home can be a big adjustment for baby and parent/s. A birth doula provides hands on support to make this transition as comforting as possible. Postpartum doulas work with you to make sure you feel prepared and empowered to care for your newborn and self the best way possible. Newborn care, diapering, bathing and feeding are all apart of the doula preparing you for life with baby. Light housekeeping and light meal prep are also ways postpartum care can help you create a sense of ease in those beginning weeks.
Emotional Support
One of the most comforting measures a doula brings to your home is emotional support. Postpartum doulas are typically visiting within the first 7 weeks of baby’s new life which is a time of hormone changes and physical changes. Perinatal mental health is of the upmost importance when trained doulas are in your home. Weekly check ins with you and your immediate family will help to identify common red flags in your perinatal mental health. Having a postpartum doula there with you in the beginning weeks will also help with the bonding experience between mother and baby as well as family members and pets.
Partner Support
If you have support at home (romantic partner, a friend or another family member like the baby’s grandma) keeping them as involved as they want to be matters. Trained doulas make sure that the birth partner has the same information and preparedness for taking care of baby. Perinatal mental health can also be a concern for birth partners so we make sure they are supported in these check ins as well.
Evidence Based Information and Advocacy
Trained postpartum doulas are a plethora of evidence based information for you. In no way will a doula give you medical advice, but give you evidence based information to help you make the best choice possible. No one knows how to mother their child better than the person who gave birth to them. Empowering you to advocate for yourself and your baby is an important role of your postpartum doula.
Do I need a Doula?
Let’s check in with evidence based research on doulas and their effects on pregnancy, labor, birth and beyond.
The Birth Doula’s Contribution to Modern Maternity Care:
Research shows that women who use a birth doula are:
Less likely to need Pitocin
Less likely to have a cesarean birth
Less likely to use any pain medication
More likely to rate their childbirth experience positively
In this position paper written by Penny Simkin, “The Birth Doula’s role in maternity care” you can read an in-depth paper on doulas and their role.
Read that position paper here.
In 2017, the Cochran Library published this research into the effects continuous support throughout labor.
You can access that research here.