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What is a birth doula?
A doula is a pregnancy, labour, and postpartum companion who helps you navigate the wide world of birth and beyond. Doulas provide you with information, answer questions, help you formulate a birth plan, and help figure out what is right for you and your family. In short, a doula is a sounding board/support for the birthing person and their partner throughout the process of pregnancy and birth.
Doulas are familiar with the hospital, and can help the birthing person and their partner navigate the medical system. They help to understand procedures and interventions in labour and ensure informed consent. Doulas do not speak for birthing people and their partners; they do, however, empower them to make informed choices to achieve the birth they desire.
What is a doula's role at my birth?
A doula’s job is to support you/your partner throughout your labour and birth, and that manifests in different ways. There are the standard ‘doula tasks’ such as providing counterpressure to alleviate pain, creating a calm environment for the birth, and keeping everyone as comfortable as possible, but I’ve also filled birth pools, walked dogs in early labour, cooked meals, taught the birthing parent how to breastfeed their baby in a carseat, taught them how to use their babywearing carriers, helped with labour positions to help your baby maintain a prime position for birth, and the list goes on.
I am always available for support and answers, but a lot of the time, my job is to hold the space around a birthing person and their baby, letting the natural process of birth unfold. Essentially, I support you and your family in whatever way you need to be supported, and that is different for each and every birth I attend.
What are the benefits of having a doula?
Not only is having a doula emotionally beneficial in terms of the support you receive, but many studies have concluded that having a doula present throughout labour and birth can have dramatic physiological benefits as well.
Use of a doula is associated with:
- 50% reduction in Caesarean action
60% reduction in requests for epidural anaesthesia
40% reduction in the need for forceps/assisted delivery
25% shorter labour
40% reduction in the need for Pitocin
Fewer cases of postpartum depression
Increased success with breastfeeding
Increased confidence and participation by the partner
Source: Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth by Kennell, Klaus, and Kennell (1993)