What is a doula?
Learn more about how doulas support women and their families before, during, and after labor and delivery.
What does a doula do?
A birth doula supports women and their families before and during labor and delivery and immediately postpartum.
This is done through a variety of services such as prenatal visits, birth planning, presence during labor, childbirth education, lactation support, and more. A birth doula not only advocates for women in labor, but also helps families and mothers advocate for themselves.
Doulas provide evidence-based support and research for several elements of childbirth and pregnancy, including (but not limited to) pain medications, labor positions, and comfort measures that you might use during labor and delivery.
Do I need a doula?
The only one who can answer that question for you is you.
Evidence surrounding birth doulas is quite abundant, though, and just might astound you. Families and mothers who use birth doulas:
feel cared for and feel a sense of pride and empowerment after birth;
see a 39% decrease in the risk of Cesarean births;
see a 10% decrease in the use of medications for pain relief;
see a 38% decrease in the baby’s risk of a low five minute Apgar score; and
see a 31% decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience
Evidence Based Support and more
If you aren’t truly free to say “no”, then you aren’t truly free to say “yes.”
While researching for my own births, I quickly learned that “informed consent” is not always practiced with the highest integrity in the medical field, and I was grossly disappointed. The Evidence Based Birth® (EBB) resource helped me ask questions to get the information I needed to feel like I was making a truly informed decision.
I hope to do the same for you. In supporting your childbirth experience, you will be equipped to ask the right questions and to make decisions and advocate for yourself and your baby. I will help you make your birth plan, and I will help the medical staff respect your birth plan.