What is a birth doula?

A birth doula is a support for the mother and her partner during pregnancy, labor, birth, and the immediate postpartum. A doula provides emotional and physical support during labor and birth, and can share resources and education to help you prepare for birth and all the changes that accompany bringing a new baby into your family.

What do birth doulas do?

During pregnancy I’ll meet with you twice so we can plan for your birth and postpartum. If you are birthing out of the hospital, I am also available to go to your 36 week “birth team” meeting. And of course I’m available by text, phone, or email to talk and I’ll be checking in with you throughout your pregnancy. Additionally, I will go on 24 hour call for you at 38 weeks and can be contacted at any time throughout the on call period.

During labor and birth I am certified and trained to provide physical and emotional support, comfort measure options, suggestions for labor positions, and ideas for labor progress.

At our postpartum meeting scheduled at your convenience (usually around 2 weeks), I’ll come to you and be a listening ear to review and process your birth story, provide any postpartum or breastfeeding support I’m qualified for as needed, answer questions about newborn care, talk about resources and referrals that can support you in this stage, and share postpartum and breastfeeding community resources as needed.

Why should I hire a doula?

Having a doula with you throughout pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum can be a huge relief to feel as though you’re not alone and that you have a trusted source “on your side”. Many studies have shown that with support from a doula women were less likely to have pain relief medications administered and less likely to have a cesarean birth. They have also shown that women reported having a more positive childbirth experience with a doula.

How does a doula work with birth partners?

When I was contemplating having a doula with our first, this was one of my main concerns. I wanted the birth process to be about me and my husband starting our new family, and that didn’t include having another person in the room with us at all times. If only I knew… Having our doula there made it to where we could be intentional with each other and he could focus wholly on supporting me - he didn’t have to be running errands and could stay with me the whole time.

Doulas do not take the place of a birth partner; they support the couple and free up the partner to focus completely on the mom. Doulas and partners work together to support the mom. Doulas encourage partners, show them and assist in providing comfort measures, take the pressure off the partner of feeling that they have to remember everything they learned in their childbirth class, and remind them to take care of themselves during the labor process as well.