What is a Birth Doula, anyway??

A birth doula is a person trained and experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth.  The word comes from ancient Greek and roughly translates to "Woman's servant."  There was a time when women labored together and with the help of the women in their families and community.  As birth moved to the hospitals, women lost the advantage of having community with them.  Doulas are trained to help a woman manage labor.


What effects does the presence of a doula have on birth outcomes?   Numerous clinical studies have found that a doula’s presence at birth:

• tends to result in shorter labors with fewer complications
• reduces negative feelings about one’s childbirth experience
• reduces the need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps or vacuum extraction
• reduces the requests for pain medication and epidurals, as well as the incidence of cesareans

The effects of a the presence of a doula on the mother and on the babies?

When a doula is present during and after childbirth, women report greater satisfaction with their birth experience, make more positive assessments of their babies, have fewer cesareans and requests for medical intervention, and less postpartum depression.  Studies have shown that babies born with doulas present tend to have shorter hospital stays with fewer admissions to special care nurseries, breastfeed more easily and have more affectionate mothers in the postpartum period.

Finding a Doula
Finding  the right doula can take some leg work.  Call several doulas.  Have a list of questions ready for the doula.  Take your time, that phone call is the first interview.  To find DONA trained doulas in your area visit DONA's web site and choose the "doula locater" link.  If there is no doula listed that means there isn't a doula who has completed the certification process in your search area.  Chances are though, that there is a doula-in-training not far from you..  You can call DONA for a list of doulas-in-training in your area. 


From Doulas of North America (DONA)