What is a Doula? — Beth Brown - DONA-trained Birth Doula

In today’s society, we use the term, Doula, to mean a professional who provides support to a woman and her partner before, during and after birth. Sometimes a birth doula is referred to as labor support, labor coach, a childbirth assistant, or a labor companion.

A birth doula provides:
Emotional Support — encouragement, reassurance, continuous physical presence.
Informational Support — assistance to families in gathering information about the course of their labor and their options, explanations, non-medical advice.
Physical Support — comfort measures, positioning suggestions, massage, breathing, relaxation, and other non-pharmacological pain relief measures.
Advocacy — interpreting the woman’s wishes to the hospital staff
Partner Support — role modeling, encouragement, reassurance.

A birth doula draws on her knowledge of and experience with birth as she reassures, encourages and empathizes with the mother. Doulas do not perform clinical tasks such as heart rate checks, or vaginal exams but rather use massage, breathing, relaxation, and positioning suggestions to comfort the mother. A birth doula typically joins a laboring woman either at her home (and can help the couple determine when to leave for the hospital) or in the hospital or birth center and remains with her until a few hours after the birth. At this time, the doula can assist a mother to begin breastfeeding, as well as become an advocate for the newborn. In essence, a doula “mothers the mother” while protecting the special bond between the new parents.

One of the most important aspects of doula care is continuous support. Doctors, midwives and nurses are responsible for the medical aspects of your baby's birth. The birth doula’s complete focus is on you and your birth experience. She will remain by your side throughout the entire birth experience, maintaining a continuity of care that is seldom achieved otherwise.

Many birth doulas go through extensive training, become certified and adhere to strict standards of practice and code of ethics. In terms of certifying organizations, DONA (Doulas of North America) is the oldest, largest and most respected doula association in the world. You can find out more about DONA, their standards of practice and code of ethics by going to their website, www.dona.org.