What is doula?

Doula is a Greek word which has come to mean a woman who helps other women, offering continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and after childbirth.

A doula is someone who:

• assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth
• provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint
• stays by the side of the laboring wom-an throughout the labor
• understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor
• helps the woman get the information she needs to make thoughtful choices, both before and during the labor
• facilitates communication between the laboring woman and the clinical care providers
• recognizes childbirth as a key life experience that the mother will re-member all her life
• will not make decisions for the client or project their own values and goals onto the client
• do not perform clinical tasks or give medical advice

What are the benefits of having a doula?

Research proves that hiring a doula is great for moms, dads and babies.

Having a doula decreases medical intervention in labor:

• Reduce the need for cesarean by 50%
• Reduce the length of labor by 25%
• Reduce the use of Pitocin by 40%
• Reduce pain medication use by 30%
• Reduce the need for forceps by 40%
• Reduce epidural requests by 40%

6 weeks after birth, mothers who had doulas were:

• Less anxious and depressed
• More confident with their baby
• More satisfied with their partner (71% vs. 30%)
• More likely to be breastfeeding (52% vs. 29%)