What is a Doula?

Doula translates from Greek as meaning "woman's servant" or "slave".  Most likely the most important and trusted slave of the house, this servant helped the lady of the house through her childbearing years.  A modern day doula is mom's servant during labor and birth.

Non Medical Labor Support

 This means a Doula does not provide medical care such as blood pressure monitoring, cervical checks, delivery services, or anything that qualifies as medical care.  Your Doctor/Midwife, and Nurses are best trained for these things.  Often though medical care leaves little time for your medical support to provide the emotional, physical, and informational labor support a Doula is specifically trained for.

What Does a Doula Do? Birth Doulas have been trained to support families during the late pregnancy, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum stages of the child bearing year. A Birth doula provides practical, physical, emotional and, when wanted informational support to moms and their families.

Providing physical, emotional, and educational support for the laboring mother and her family, helps parents to achieve a more satisfying birth experience. This in turn helps parents begin the journey of parenting their baby on a firm foundation. 

Ways A Doula helps

  1. Practical:  Helping you work out your birth plan.  Coming to you in early labor and helping provided you with nutritious energy producing meals, rest, suggestions, and a buffer from the outside as labor gets under way. 
  2. Physical:  Physical support can be seen in massages, counter pressure, squatting support, or even providing a replacement when your partner needs a potty or lunch break. 
  3. Emotional:  Perhaps one of the most important areas a Doula provides support is emotional.  A Doula can provide reassurance that this too is normal and shall pass!  This emotional support is not just for the laboring mother but for her mother, her husband, and anyone else who loves and adores the woman laboring and birthing.
  4. Informational:  Helping you and your partner understand the the range of normal and the sometimes confusing lingo of pregnancy and birth as well as your available options.

Supporting Families at Birth